Psychotherapy has a long history of use as an intervention for psychiatric patients and is supported by clinical experience and empirical research in terms of efficacy and cost-effectiveness. Approximately 3% of the U.S. population receives psychotherapy each year. In 1997 alone, nearly 10 million Americans spent $5.7 billion on outpatient psychotherapy. Different psychotherapies focus on different aspects of altered psychological functioning. Psychodynamic (psychoanalytically oriented) psychotherapy, one of the most common psychotherapies used in clinical practice to deal with psychosocial problems, focuses on past experiences and examines their impact on shaping behavioral and expectancy patterns in ways that affect health through repetitive specific cognitive (defenses), interpersonal perceptions, and interaction patterns (empathy). The goal of therapy is to understand the patient’s defense mechanisms and empathic responses, especially as reflected in the therapist-patient relationship in therapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is inherently more focused than psychoanalysis, with some emphasis on the here and now. However, they share the common goal of understanding the substance of the patient’s conflict and its role in adult life, which is rooted in maladaptive behavior patterns from childhood, also known as infantile neurosis. At the operational level, psychodynamic psychotherapy is a holistic concept (umbrella concept) that is a continuum of supportive-explanatory (expressive) psychotherapeutic interventions. Explanatory interventions aim to strengthen the patient’s understanding of the conflicts that recur and maintain his or her problems; supportive interventions aim to help the patient enhance those abilities that are not easily attainable in the face of current acute stress (e.g., traumatic events) or that are not fully developed (e.g., impulse control in borderline personality disorder). The duration of psychodynamic psychotherapy varies from a few months to several years and takes the form of short, long and intermittent sessions. Intermittent treatment, however, is the more common form. The length of treatment depends on the number of areas of conflict presented and the course of treatment. The frequency of psychodynamic psychotherapy sessions is 1-3 times per week, and once per week is the standard format for short sessions. The high frequency of sessions ensures a more detailed exploration of the patient’s spiritual life and inner world and allows for the development of fuller empathy; it also allows for the patient to be supported in the therapy process.