Do psychiatrists only offer medications?
Psychiatrists are medical doctors (MDs or DOs) who specialize in mental health. Their expertise is in diagnosing and treating psychiatric symptoms and conditions using medications and psychotherapy (talk therapy).
Unlike many settings where psychiatrists are expected to manage medications and refer the patient to another provider for therapy, Dr. Williams prefers to provide both medications and psychotherapy without “splitting” treatment with another provider.
What is a psychoanalyst?
A psychoanalyst is a mental health professional who has received extensive, specialized post-graduate training in psychoanalysis, an intensive form of talk therapy originally developed by Sigmund Freud. This training takes place at a psychoanalytic institute and requires 4+ years of readings, lectures, and supervised clinical work. Dr. Williams trained at the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis, which is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
What is psychoanalysis? How is it different from other talk therapies?
Psychoanalysis is a form of intensive talk therapy designed to help people gain deep insight into the unconscious roots of their emotional difficulties, mental health struggles, and behavior patterns. It aims not just to relieve symptoms, but to bring about lasting personality change and emotional growth.
What Is Psychoanalysis For?
1. Chronic or Deep-Seated Emotional Issues
- Long-term depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem that hasn’t responded fully to short-term therapy or medication.
- Repeated relationship problems or self-sabotaging behaviors.
- Difficulty forming a stable sense of self-worth or ability to work at one’s true capacities.
2. Understanding Unconscious Conflicts
Psychoanalysis explores how unconscious thoughts, feelings, and early experiences—often from childhood—affect your current emotions and relationships. For example:
- You might fear intimacy without knowing why.
- You might react strongly to minor events because of unresolved trauma.
3. Working Through Repressed Emotions
Psychoanalysis helps bring repressed emotions and memories into conscious awareness so they can be processed and integrated, instead of unconsciously driving behavior or symptoms.
4. Breaking Repetitive Patterns
- Recurring problems in love, work, or self-image may be signs of internal conflicts or defenses.
- Psychoanalysis aims to uncover these patterns and understand the emotional logic behind them—why they were once necessary, and how to let them go.
Common Issues Treated in Psychoanalysis:
- Depression, anxiety, phobias
- Personality disorders
- Relationship difficulties
- Identity issues
- Effects of trauma or early neglect
- Obsessive thoughts or compulsions
- Unexplained physical symptoms (psychosomatic)
Is It Right for You?
Psychoanalysis is most helpful if:
- You’re interested in deep, self-exploratory work.
- You’ve tried other therapies but still feel stuck.
- You’re open to meeting frequently over a long period.
- You want to change not just how you feel, but how you relate to yourself and others at a fundamental level.
If that sounds too intensive, a related but more flexible option is psychodynamic therapy — rooted in the same ideas, but less demanding in terms of time and structure.
