Diana Orgera
- Availability:
- Not Currently Accepting Clients
- Session Format:
- Online TherapyPhone Sessions
- Office Hours:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
- Clientele:
- Adults
Contact Information
- Email:
- dianaorgera@gmail.com
- Phone:
- (416) 710-7674
Deep within all of us is an inner knowing and wisdom that emerges when we cut through the incessant white noise of anxiety and self-doubt. Psychotherapy and the conversation that happens in the therapy setting can help us quiet that noise and get underneath it so we can better understand ourselves and hear our own inner truth. It is from this place that we can make lasting changes in our lives.
Often when the people closest to us, such as our friends and family, see us unhappy, upset, or stuck, they try to help by giving us advice. Perhaps out of their own anxiety or fear they respond to us, in our distress, by telling us what they think we should do and how we should think differently. And although this comes from a place of caring, it can often lead us to feeling further isolated. Psychodynamic psychotherapy can offer a path to understanding by making room for our thoughts and feelings and allowing us to speak of them without the fear of burdening our friends and family. It also offers the opportunity to explore what is going on for us on an unconscious level through our dreams and fantasies.
Psychotherapy can be described as an ongoing conversation that takes place over a period of time. Psychodynamic psychotherapy places a real importance on the connection between client and therapist. In order for both the connection and the conversation to deepen it is important that we settle in to a consistent day and time. Usually sessions are one hour long and once a week. This seems to work well but sometimes we may come to a different arrangement depending on what feels best. Clients are often concerned that they need to be prepared for session and sometimes it is a good idea to think about what you would like to discuss, but I really encourage clients to just allow themselves to follow their thoughts. The unconscious will always lead us where we need to go. The focus of our work is on what is current and present in your life that you would like to address, because we cannot change the past. But we do look to the past to learn how it informs the present. I also encourage clients to bring in dreams and fantasies as they offer a route into the richness of the unconscious aspects of the mind.
Compassion and kindness, while not always discussed, are still very much a part of the work of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Sometimes the work is not to see what we see, but to learn compassion and understanding for what we see. I love the below poem by Erich Fried as it illustrates this interplay.
“What It Is”
It is nonsense
says reason
It is what it is
says love
It is calamity
says calculation
It is nothing but pain
says fear
It is hopeless
says insight
It is what it is
says love
It is ludicrous
says pride
It is foolish
says caution
It is impossible
says experience
It is what it is
says love
–Erich Fried
I offer a free 30 minute initial consultation. You can email me at dianaorgera@gmail.com or call me at 416-710-7674. I look forward to meeting you.
If you would like more information or to schedule an initial psychotherapy consultation at my Toronto office, please contact me at (416) 710-7674 or dianaorgera@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.