Treatments · Psychodynamic therapy
In-person psychodynamic therapy in Mississauga and online across Ontario for adults. A reflective, depth-oriented way of working with the early experiences and feelings that shape how you respond now.
Psychodynamic therapy is one approach we may draw from at Anchor & Bloom. It is a reflective, depth-oriented framework that pays attention to the patterns underneath a present concern, the early experiences, relationships, and feelings that quietly shape how you respond now. Daniella Simas Medeiros, RP (Qualifying), integrates it where it fits the work in front of her.
The starting point is simple. A lot of what we do, the way we reach for closeness or pull back from it, the harshness of an inner voice, the patterns that keep repeating, makes more sense once we understand where it came from. Bringing that into awareness tends to give you more room to choose differently.
What this is and is not
Psychodynamic therapy is a reflective, evidence-informed way of working with the parts of a pattern that sit below everyday awareness. It looks at how earlier relationships and experiences shaped the responses you carry now, and at the feelings underneath the behaviour on the surface. It is a framework, not the single answer, and we draw on it alongside other approaches.
It is not endless analysis for its own sake, and it is not a tour of your history with no purpose. The past matters here because it shapes the present, not as an end in itself. The work stays anchored to what would actually help, and it moves at a pace you set.
When this fits
When you keep landing in the same place across different relationships, jobs, or seasons, and the usual fixes have not held. Psychodynamic work looks at the pattern underneath the repetition, not just the situation on the surface.
When earlier experiences still carry weight in how you relate, trust, or protect yourself now. See also our trauma therapy.
When worry hums in the background and you cannot quite name what is driving it. The reflective lens often reaches the feeling underneath. See also our anxiety therapy.
When flatness or heaviness has settled in and willpower alone has not moved it. Often paired with our depression therapy.
When the inner voice is critical and constant, psychodynamic work looks at where it learned to speak that way and what it is afraid would happen if it stopped. Often paired with our self-esteem therapy.
For people drawn to depth and meaning rather than tools and worksheets alone, who want to make sense of their own story rather than only manage the symptoms.
Learn more
Everything below is optional. Open any section to go deeper on how psychodynamic therapy works at Anchor & Bloom, who it fits, and what tends to change over time.
The idea behind it
Psychodynamic therapy grew out of a long clinical tradition, and modern practice has kept what is useful and let go of a lot of the older orthodoxy. At its centre sits a simple observation: much of what shapes how we feel and act is not fully in view to us. We carry patterns, learned early and often for good reason, that keep running long after the situation that formed them has passed.
The relational frame matters here. The way we reach for closeness, brace against it, or shut down when it feels unsafe usually traces back to what we learned about connection and care along the way. Psychodynamic work treats those responses as understandable, not as flaws, and looks at the feeling driving them.
The work, then, is partly about making the implicit explicit. When a pattern that has been running quietly gets named and understood, it stops feeling like just the way you are and starts to feel like something you can have a relationship with, and sometimes change.
None of this is presented as settled fact about how every mind works. It is one framework among several, a lens that many clients find useful for making sense of why the same thing keeps happening. Where it helps, we use it. Where another approach fits better, we draw on that instead.
In the room
There is no fixed script, and no two courses of therapy look the same. Length of therapy varies significantly depending on goals, history, and current needs. Some people work with us for a focused season, others for longer. What follows is a feel for the work, not a sequence of phases.
Noticing the pattern. Early on, the work is about getting curious together about what keeps happening, the recurring feeling, the familiar situation, the response that arrives before you have chosen it. Often this is the first time a client has looked at the pattern as a pattern rather than a personal failing.
Understanding where it came from. The middle of the work follows the thread back, gently and without rushing, to the experiences and relationships that taught the pattern. This is not about blame. It is about understanding, which tends to loosen the grip of the thing.
Choosing differently. As awareness grows, the old response becomes something you can catch in the moment, and a different choice becomes possible. We pace all of this together, and revisit it often, so the work stays in service of what you came in for.
Fit
A good fit for
Not the right primary fit for
If you are unsure whether psychodynamic therapy is the right next step, the free 15-minute consultation is a good place to ask.
Signals of change
Change in psychodynamic work tends to look less like a problem disappearing and more like the ground underneath it shifting. Some of what clients describe over time:
Who offers this
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #19387
Warm, collaborative work with adults across Ontario, including neurodivergent and 2SLGBTQIA+ clients and couples. Daniella draws on psychodynamic therapy alongside attachment theory, CBT, EFT, solution-focused therapy, and somatic approaches, shaping the work around what fits you. As a Qualifying member she practises under clinical supervision in line with CRPO requirements.
About DaniellaPsychodynamic therapy is one approach we may draw from in therapy. It pays attention to the patterns underneath the present concern, the early experiences, relationships, and feelings that shape how you respond now, often without your noticing. The idea is that bringing those patterns into awareness gives you more room to choose differently. Daniella Simas Medeiros integrates it where it fits the work in front of her.
CBT works mostly with present-day thoughts and behaviours, the loops of thinking and acting that keep a pattern going. Psychodynamic therapy looks further back, at where the pattern came from and what it has been protecting. They are not in competition. Some courses of therapy draw on both, depending on what is most alive in the room.
Not necessarily. The older image of psychodynamic work as years on a couch is one version of it, but the same lens can be used in shorter, focused work too. Length of therapy varies significantly depending on your goals, history, and current needs. We talk openly about pacing at each stage, and you are never committed to a fixed number of sessions.
No. The past matters in this work because it shapes the present, not as an end in itself. We move between what is happening now and where it may have started, always in service of the change you came in for. The focus stays on you and what would help, not on a tour of your history.
Yes. Reflective, depth-oriented work translates well to secure video sessions. The format is the same as any other online session, conversation-led and paced to you, offered across Ontario through a PHIPA-compliant Canadian platform.
Individual sessions are $160 to $180. Most extended health benefit plans through Canadian employers cover Registered Psychotherapist services. Confirm with your insurer before booking. Psychotherapy is exempt from GST/HST as of June 2024.
For plan-by-plan coverage details, direct billing notes, and how to submit a claim, see Fees & Insurance.
Further reading
For general information on psychotherapy and mental health, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health are good starting points.
For information on the regulation of psychotherapists in Ontario, see the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Related services
For when earlier experiences still carry weight in how you relate and protect yourself now.
For worry with no obvious source, where the feeling underneath is worth understanding.
For low mood and a sense of being stuck that willpower alone has not moved.
For a harsh inner voice and the softer, more vulnerable feeling it tends to cover.
A shorter, goal-first approach for when you want to build forward from what is already working.
RP (Qualifying), CRPO #19387. Draws on psychodynamic therapy in warm, collaborative work.
A 15-minute consultation to ask questions and decide if the fit feels right.
Sessions are virtual province-wide, with local support for:
Toronto · Mississauga · Oakville · Burlington · Hamilton
