PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY IN LJUBLJANA:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
'Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak
whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.'
Shakespeare (Macbeth - Act IV Scene III)
A guide to understanding psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy as we practice it at the International Center for Lacanian Psychoanalysis in Ljubljana, Slovenia - how it works, what to expect, and how it can help.
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What is psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is a treatment that works through speech. You are invited to say whatever comes to mind: memories, dreams, fears, contradictions, things that seem beside the point. There is no need to prepare or make your words consistent.
The analyst listens. Rather than offering a quick solution, psychoanalysis asks a different question: what is your symptom trying to say?
Over time, new meanings can emerge from your own words, and your relation to suffering or to a repetitive pattern may begin to change from the inside.
"Psychoanalysis is a "talking cure" invented by Freud (…) in which the central focus is the patient’s own work of elaboration, supported by the analyst. However, it is not only a therapy, because its functioning is based not merely on the desire to be cured of suffering, but also—and above all—on a desire to know the unconscious cause of one’s own suffering. The more the patient—whom Lacan calls the “analysand” to emphasise their active role in the treatment—gets to the root of their suffering and its causes, the more therapeutic effects arise, but as Freud says, “in addition,” as a consequence of this process of elaboration."
— Domenico Cosenza, psychoanalyst
Who can benefit from psychoanalysis and psychotherapy?
People come to us with a wide range of difficulties:
Anxiety and stress-related concerns:
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Anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and persistent fear
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Phobias and obsessive-compulsive patterns
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Post-traumatic stress (PTSD)
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Work-related stress and burnout
Depression and mood concerns:
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Depression and existential malaise
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Grief, mourning, and loss
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Low self-esteem and lack of direction
Relationship and intimacy issues:
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Difficulties in relationships, intimacy, or parenthood
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Sexual difficulties and questions about desire
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Family conflicts
Identity and life transitions:
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Identity questions, including gender identity
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Cultural transition, expat experiences, or living between languages
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Adolescent difficulties
Creative and performance concerns:
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Creative blocks and performance anxiety
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Stage fright for artists and performers
Other psychological concerns:
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Eating disorders
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Self-harm and repetitive destructive behaviors
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Sleep disorders
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The aftermath of abuse or violence
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Repetitive patterns that cause suffering
You do not need a formal diagnosis to begin. It is enough that something causes you suffering, or raises a question you would like address.
How does a psychotherapy session work?
Getting started with therapy in Ljubljana
In the initial consultation, you can speak about what brings you to seek help. Preliminary interviews over the following weeks help to assess whether this approach suits you.
The analytic setting
You are invited to use the couch when visual support for speech is no longer necessary. From this point, you become an "analysand," a term that emphasizes your active role in the process.
The psychoanalyst's approach
Lacanian psychoanalysis gives a central place to surprise. The analyst may speak or remain silent according to what the session requires.
Each session has a variable duration and follows the logic of the treatment, not the clock. In Lacanian psychoanalysis, time is measured by moments of insight, speech, or emotional emergence. This variable timing ensures that the analytic work respects the rhythm of your speech and your experience, rather than being constrained by an external schedule.
"The analyst is called upon to give utmost importance to the word of the analysand, therefore silence is absolutely well-suited to the analyst. It is not easy to remain silent because the most natural thing is to speak, especially when someone asks us something. But the analyst knows, by training, that the word that truly matters is not their own, but that of the analysand's unconscious, which does not emerge if its fertile space is occupied by the word of another. For this reason, the analyst is called to economize their words, so that when they decide to use speech, it has the resonance needed to hit the mark, as happens in every true interpretation."
— Domenico Cosenza, psychoanalyst
How often are therapy sessions? How long does treatment last?
Sessions typically meet one to three times per week. Some patients prefer weekly sessions, while others benefit from meeting more frequently.
The length of a treatment is not decided in advance and varies greatly from person to person. The analyst undertakes to be there for as long as the work requires, and not to keep you longer than it does.
How much does psychoanalysis cost?
Fees are agreed individually in the first meeting, taking your circumstances into account.
What results can I expect from psychoanalytic treatment?
Psychoanalysis can bring:
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Relief from symptoms and psychological suffering
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Deeper understanding of yourself and your emotions
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The ability to make choices with increased freedom, less burdened by the past
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A transformation in your ability to communicate and to love
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Development of psychological freedom and self-esteem
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Improved mental health and emotional wellbeing
What's the difference between psychoanalysts, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other therapists?
Understanding different mental health professionals can help you choose the therapeutic approach that suits you.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor specialising in mental health, and the only one of these professionals who can prescribe medication.
A psychologist holds a university degree in psychology. Psychologists carry out psychological assessment and testing, and many also provide counselling or psychotherapy.
A psychotherapist is trained in one or more approaches to psychotherapy. Each approach has its own understanding of psychological suffering and its own way of working: some focus on thoughts and behaviour, some on relationships or the family, and some on the body.
A psychoanalyst works with what you say and offers a different kind of listening.
Rather than applying a standardized protocol, it begins with the singularity of each person’s experience. Even when people seem to share the same label or symptom, what it means in one life is never exactly what it means in another.
There are no exercises, homework or advice to follow. The person speaks in their own words and at their own pace; the analyst listens and, at certain moments, intervenes.
In psychoanalysis, a symptom is not regarded only as something to be removed. Anxiety, compulsions, repeated failures, inhibitions or physical symptoms may also carry a meaning that has not yet been heard. Analysis provides a space in which that meaning can emerge.
Sessions are not treated as fixed units of time. Their rhythm follows the logic of the work itself, and the course of an analysis cannot be predicted in advance.
Psychoanalysis is concerned not only with reducing suffering, but also with the unconscious and with desire: with the singular way each person speaks, loves, suffers and lives. Rather than asking how someone should become different, it asks what may become possible once something new is heard in one’s own words.
If this way of working speaks to you, the first step is simply to begin the conversation.
When should I seek help from a therapist?
Psychological distress can be as debilitating as physical pain. While people readily visit a doctor for physical symptoms, mental health concerns are often neglected until they become severe.
If anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, creative blocks, or unease are affecting your life, that can be a sufficient reason to reach out.
