What is Depth Psychotherapy?

Depth psychotherapy is a form of therapy that attends to the deeper, often unconscious dimensions of experience, rather than focusing only on surface-level symptoms or immediate problems.

It can offer a space in which thoughts, feelings, images, relationships, and recurring patterns are explored over time. This way of working values reflection, imagination, and the gradual unfolding of meaning.

In my own practice, I offer depth-oriented psychotherapy online to adults across the UK. I describe this as a soul-centered approach, one that attends not only to difficulties, but also to meaning, purpose, creativity, and the life that may be seeking fuller expression through them.

What is meant by depth psychotherapy?

The term “depth psychotherapy” does not refer to a single, formally defined modality in the way that some other therapeutic approaches do. It is not a protected title, and therapists do not usually train specifically as “depth psychotherapists.”

Instead, depth psychotherapy describes a broad orientation to therapeutic work. It has been shaped by psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, Jungian, and post-Jungian traditions.

Although these traditions differ from one another, they share an interest in the unconscious, in symbolic and imaginal life, and in the ways meaning may emerge gradually through the therapeutic process.

In this sense, “depth” refers less to a particular technique and more to an attitude towards psychological experience. Immediate difficulties are taken seriously, but they are not assumed to be the whole story.

Anxiety, low mood, uncertainty, relationship difficulties, or a loss of direction may also lead towards a wider understanding of how you experience yourself, other people, and the world in which you live.

If you would like to explore the theoretical background in more detail, my Depth Psychology page considers the ideas and traditions that inform this way of working.

Working with the unconscious

A central idea within depth psychotherapy is that much of our psychological life takes place outside conscious awareness.

This does not only refer to memories or feelings that have been pushed away. The unconscious may also contain sources of creativity, imagination, vitality, and unrealised possibility.

It may become present in therapy through:

• recurring emotional or relational patterns

• dreams or images that remain with you

• reactions that are difficult to fully explain

• feelings that seem out of proportion to a situation

• moments that feel significant but remain difficult to put into words

Rather than moving too quickly to interpret or resolve these experiences, the work may involve staying with them and allowing their meaning to develop over time.

This does not mean that everything has a hidden explanation waiting to be uncovered. It means approaching experience with curiosity and recognising that understanding may emerge gradually, rather than through immediate analysis or advice.

A different pace of therapy

Depth psychotherapy often moves at a slower pace than more structured or solution-focused approaches. This is not a lack of direction, but a recognition that some aspects of experience cannot be hurried. In a culture that often prioritises clarity, productivity, and quick outcomes, this way of working can initially feel unfamiliar.

It may be less concerned with finding the fastest way to remove a feeling and more interested in understanding what the feeling may be expressing, how it has developed, and what place it holds within the wider movement of a person’s life.

The regular therapy hour provides a relatively rare space in which to pause and give sustained attention to what is present. Over time, this may support a changing relationship to thoughts, feelings, and patterns, rather than only an attempt to control or eliminate them.

Change in depth psychotherapy may therefore be subtle. It can involve greater awareness, a growing capacity to remain with uncertainty, a fuller sense of personal agency, or a gradual feeling of living in a way that is more truthful and meaningful.

The role of the therapeutic relationship

As with many forms of psychotherapy, the relationship between therapist and client is central.

The therapeutic relationship offers support, consistency, and a space in which difficult experiences can be approached with care. It can also become part of the work itself.

Patterns, expectations, and emotional responses may begin to appear within the relationship. You may notice, for example, a fear of disappointing the therapist, a difficulty trusting that your experience will be taken seriously, or a tendency to withdraw when something feels emotionally important.

Attending to these experiences can offer a deeper understanding of how you relate to yourself and to other people. This does not mean examining every interaction or turning the relationship into the sole subject of therapy. It means recognising that the ways we have learned to protect ourselves, seek connection, or respond to uncertainty may also emerge within the therapeutic space.

You can read more about this on my website page exploring the therapeutic process and the relationship between client and therapist.

How is depth psychotherapy different from other approaches?

There are many forms of therapy available, and the differences between them are not always immediately clear.

Some approaches are highly structured and focus on particular symptoms, goals, or practical strategies for change. These approaches can be valuable and may be well suited to people who want focused help with a clearly defined difficulty. Depth psychotherapy places greater emphasis on the underlying patterns, relationships, and meanings that may be shaping experience over time.

This can include attention to:

• recurring relational dynamics

• symbolic or imaginal material, including dreams

• the emotional tone of an experience

• questions of identity, meaning, and purpose

• aspects of life that are not yet fully understood

The work is usually less prescriptive. Rather than being given a fixed programme to follow, you are invited to explore your own experience and discover what may be asking for attention.

This does not mean that therapy has no focus. Immediate concerns can be discussed directly, and practical realities are not ignored. The difference lies in remaining open to the possibility that a difficulty may have more than one meaning and may need to be understood within the context of a person’s life as a whole.

Depth psychotherapy and the wider world

Depth psychotherapy is sometimes described in ways that make it sound entirely inward-looking. However, psychological life does not exist separately from the world around us.

Our experience is shaped by relationships, work, culture, place, creativity, spirituality, and our connection with the natural world. Wider social and economic conditions may also have a profound effect upon how life is experienced.

Depth-oriented therapy can therefore move outward as well as inward. Art, literature, music, spiritual traditions, encounters with nature, or questions of vocation may all become meaningful parts of the work. They do not need to be reduced to symptoms or treated only as evidence about the individual psyche.

For some people, psychological difficulties are inseparable from questions about how they are living, what they value, and the kind of relationship they have with the wider world.

Depth psychotherapy and Art Psychotherapy

As an HCPC registered Art Psychotherapist, my work is informed by both verbal psychotherapy and the potential use of image-making.

Most sessions may take place entirely through conversation. There is no expectation that you will make art, and no artistic experience or ability is required. However, drawing, painting, or working with other materials can offer another way of approaching experiences that do not yet have a clear verbal form.

An image may make visible something that is difficult to explain directly. It may also introduce unexpected associations, feelings, or possibilities into the therapeutic process.

The purpose is not to produce a successful artwork or to have the therapist decode what an image means. The meaning of an image is explored collaboratively and remains connected to the experience of the person who created it.

Working with art materials is always optional. Some clients choose to use them regularly, some occasionally, and others not at all.

My separate article on Art Psychotherapy explores this process in greater detail.

Beginning without a clearly defined problem

It is not uncommon to consider therapy without having a clearly defined problem.

There may instead be a feeling that something is unsettled, that life has become constricted, or that an aspect of experience is asking for attention. You may be aware of repeating patterns without fully understanding them, or have a sense that the way you are living no longer feels quite right.

Depth psychotherapy can offer a space in which this can be approached without pressure to immediately name or resolve it.

Over time, what initially feels vague may begin to take on greater form and meaning.

Uncertainty about beginning therapy is also common. You do not need to know exactly what you want to discuss or where the work will lead before making contact. The uncertainty itself can become part of what is explored.

You can read more about this in my article on feeling unsure about starting therapy.

What happens in a depth psychotherapy session?

Therapy sessions last one hour and usually take place at a regular weekly or fortnightly time.

I work online using a secure video platform, offering depth psychotherapy to adults across the UK. I also offer monthly 90-minute consultations for people seeking a more occasional reflective conversation rather than ongoing relational psychotherapy.

There is no fixed agenda for what should be brought to a session.

You may begin with something specific that has happened during the week, a dream, a relationship, a memory, or a feeling that has been difficult to understand. At other times, you may arrive without knowing what you want to talk about. Both can be part of the process.

Some sessions may feel clear and articulate. Others may involve uncertainty, silence, or a difficulty finding words. This is not unusual within depth-oriented work, where part of the process involves allowing experience to unfold rather than directing it too quickly.

The therapist’s role is not simply to provide answers or interpretations. It is to listen closely, remain engaged with what is emerging, and help create the conditions in which a fuller understanding can develop.

Who might depth psychotherapy be for?

This approach may be helpful if you:

• are experiencing anxiety, low mood, uncertainty, or a period of change

• feel that something in your life is unresolved but difficult to define

• want to understand recurring patterns rather than only manage symptoms

• find yourself repeating similar relationship difficulties

• are drawn to questions of identity, meaning, purpose, or vocation

• value reflection and are not looking only for immediate solutions

• have an interest in dreams, imagination, creativity, or inner life

• would welcome space for art, spirituality, or your relationship with nature to be included in therapy

It is not necessary to identify with every point on this list.

Many people begin therapy simply because their usual ways of managing are no longer sufficient, or because they sense that another way of relating to themselves and their lives may be possible. The work begins with wherever you find yourself.

Online depth psychotherapy in the UK

At its core, depth psychotherapy offers a space in which experience can be approached with curiosity rather than urgency.

It allows time to consider not only what is difficult, but also what may be emerging through the difficulty: a need for change, a neglected part of the self, a different relationship with others, or a fuller sense of meaning and direction. This process cannot be mapped out in advance. It develops through regular meetings, the therapeutic relationship, and a willingness to remain engaged with what gradually comes into view.

Further information about my online psychotherapy practice, including session options, fees, and how therapy begins, can be found on the psychotherapy pages of my website.

If this way of working sounds interesting for you, you are welcome to get in touch with any questions or to arrange an initial consultation. Contact details can be found at the foot of each page, or email me directly - APhillipsPsychotherapy@gmail.com

If you would like to receive occasional writing on psychotherapy, creativity, spirituality, and the themes that inform my work, you can also subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Numinous Landscape, using the form at the foot of the website.