Christien GarciaPhD, Psychotherapy
︎
clg, 2015 clg, 2015

Exploration &
Transformation


 




You
      are
                         enough.

Introduction


I seek to create therapeutic spaces that are both supportive and exploratory. Drawing on my training as a therapist and literary scholar, I believe in the value of thinking carefully, deeply, and creatively about the stories we tell (and sometimes don’t tell) about ourselves. By learning to tell their stories, and perhaps learning to tell their stories differently, my clients are able to find balance, take risks, and centre healing in their lives.

Curiosity &
Understanding


 


We sometimes talk about becoming a more authentic self.
        But how can we ask ourselves to be more authentic
    than what we already are?

                Dispelling with authenticity,
                     and turning instead to multiplicity and nuance,
        is one way of stepping into the realm of psychoanalysis.

About Me


I am a Psychoanalytic Candidate at the Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis, a constituent organization of the International Psychoanalytic Association or IPA. As an instructor in the Humanities, I have taught courses at the University of Toronto, McMaster University, and the University of Cambridge in the UK. 

Remembering, Repeating
& Working-Through


 






“It is a very remarkable thing
    that the unconscious
            of one human being
    can react upon that of another,
                without passing through                                                 the consciousness”. 
       

                                            Sigmund Freud

What is Psychoanalysis?


Psychoanalysis represents diverse therapeutic approaches unified by interest in working with unconscious material. Similarly, psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a form of Psychodynamic treatment that works with the “dynamics” between the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. I offer both treatments. When you are considering treatment, it is important to consider what kind of therapy you are interested in. If you are interested in a highly exploratory approach, you may want to consider psychoanalysis, which is a more intensive and time committed form of therapy. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy is less intensive but does require a close working relationship in which emotions, thinking patterns and behaviors are closely examined with your therapist. Both forms of psychoanalytic therapy require an initial assessment, which is an opportunity to discuss what would like help with, and how that might be addressed through therapy or analysis. This is a process in which both you and the therapist can assess whether the therapeutic relationship feels like a good fit, and an opportunity to better understand the benefits of engaging in a long-term therapy.