Evidence Based Approach
ERP, CBT and medication are often recommended first-line for OCD, but psychoanalytic therapy has a growing evidence base, particularly for complex or long-standing presentations.
2008 — Long-term psychodynamic therapy (Leichsenring & Rabung) [1]
In a meta analysis, long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy showed better outcomes than shorter treatments on overall improvement, target problems, and personality functioning in complex mental disorders (long-standing, multi-layered presentations).
2014 — Psychodynamic therapy for anxiety disorders (Keefe et al.) [2]
In a meta analysis, psychodynamic therapy was more effective than control conditions and not significantly different from other active treatments at post-treatment or follow-up across 14 randomly controlled trials
2010 — Durability of psychodynamic therapy (Shedler) [3]
In a meta analysis including approximately 160 studies, psychodynamic therapy effect sizes are as large as other therapies, and patients often maintain gains and continue improving after treatment ends.
2017 — OCD-specific evidence (Leichsenring et al.) [4]
A randomised trial found manual guided short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy led to response in 64% and remission in 60% of participants at post-treatment.
Research Summary
There are dozens of other relevant studies, but these findings are highlighted because they give a clear, high-level overview of what the wider research base suggests.
Psychoanalytic therapy has a tangible, and growing, evidence base.
Across many studies and meta-analyses, it shows benefit for anxiety and long-standing, complex difficulties, and the improvements often last — in many studies people continue to improve even after therapy ends.
It’s important to keep in mind these summaries are simplified. Outcomes vary from person to person and by how success is measured.
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OCD Treatment Dublin
OCD can be debilitating and exhausting. A thought arrives that feels urgent or dangerous – and the mind starts demanding certainty.
For some people it shows up as cleaning, checking, counting, repeating, organising, hoarding, or asking for reassurance. For others it’s quieter: mental rituals, endless “reviewing,” avoidance, or trying to neutralise a thought.
Whatever shape it takes, OCD is never generic. Each person’s obsessive structure is unique – it forms around your own history, fears, and the particular things you feel responsible for.
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What Causes OCD?
At the heart of OCD is anxiety and uncertainty. A compulsive action (or mental ritual) can bring short-term relief – but the relief doesn’t last, so the cycle tightens.
Usually there’s an underlying sense that something bad could happen unless the ritual is done “properly,” or unless you feel fully reassured. In that way, OCD can be understood as a defence: a solution the mind has built to protect you from something that feels worse than the obsession itself.
What is OCD trying to protect you from – and why does this particular fear have such power for you?
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How OCD Therapy Helps
Many approaches focus only on reducing surface presentation of symptoms. That can be helpful, particularly in the short term, but it often leaves the deeper structure untouched, which is why OCD can later return in new forms.
Our work looks beneath the surface of the obsession: What problem is the symptom trying to solve? What does it demand from you? What does it allow you to avoid – or feel in control of – even briefly?
By working at the level of meaning and function, our psychotherapy aims for lasting change: not just coping with OCD, but loosening the grip it has on your inner life – so you can live with more freedom.
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About Us
We are a patient-first professional psychotherapy clinic.
Psychoanalytically informed. Dublin based.
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