A Journey Through the Central Dynamic Sequence in ISTDP
- Ben Jones
- May 12
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 8
How the Observing Ego Emerges in Real-Time Therapy Work
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) offers a structured way of helping clients access and work through emotions that have long been warded off. At the core of this process is the Central Dynamic Sequence (CDS), a framework that guides therapist and client through anxiety, defence, and emotional breakthrough toward long-term change.
In this post, I’ll walk through the CDS using an anonymised example of early therapy with a client who struggled with emotional withdrawal. Along the way, I’ll highlight how the client’s observing ego – their capacity to recognise and reflect on internal experience – developed within the work.
The Central Dynamic Sequence
Inquiry – Gathering information and observing defences and affect as they arise
Pressure – Encouraging focus on affect and conflict
Clarification – Making defences conscious
Challenge – Encouraging relinquishment of defences
Head-on Collision – Confronting the resistance
Breakthrough to Feeling – Experiencing core affect
Systematic Inquiry – Exploring the experience in context
Recapitulation and Integration – Reinforcing insight and observing ego
Phase 1: Inquiry – Gathering Information and Observing Defences and Affect as They Arise
The first session begins with inquiry. My goal isn’t just to gather background but to observe how the client’s emotional conflicts and defensive patterns begin to emerge in real time.
This client described emotional numbness and a tendency to withdraw in close relationships. As she spoke, those same patterns subtly appeared in our interaction.
Transcript:
Me: You’ve said you often withdraw when someone gets emotionally close. What do you notice happens inside you when that starts to happen?
Client: It’s like I freeze. I want to connect, but there’s this wall I can’t get past.
Me: Do you notice any of that happening now, here with me?
Client: (pauses) Yeah… I feel tense, like I want to pull back.
Me: Where do you feel that tension?
Client: In my shoulders. My chest feels tight too.
Me: Let’s just stay with that for a moment. Notice the tightness in your chest. What’s it like to bring attention to that feeling right now?
Client: It feels uncomfortable. Like… something’s bracing inside me.
Me: You said you want to connect – is it difficult to feel that part while also feeling this bracing?
Client: Yeah. It’s like they’re pulling in opposite directions.
By helping the client slow down and track their experience in the moment, we begin to map their inner world – and introduce the possibility of observing it as it happens.
Phase 2: Pressure – Encouraging Focus on Affect and Conflict
Once the client can describe their immediate experience, I apply gentle pressure to deepen their emotional focus. This encourages the client to stay present at the edge of emotional discomfort.
Transcript:
Me: That wall you described – what do you imagine it’s protecting you from?
Client: (quietly) From being hurt.
Me: What kind of hurt?
Client: (hesitates) Rejection, maybe. Or being too much for someone.
Me: Can we stay with that for a second? What’s it like to say that out loud?
Client: Hard. I feel exposed.
Me: Where do you feel that exposure in your body?
Client: My throat… like it’s tightening.
Me: So part of you wants to connect, and part of you is afraid it’s too risky. What do you imagine I might do if you let that part of you come forward right now?
Client: You might judge me. Or think I’m too needy.
Me: And what do you notice emotionally when you imagine that?
Client: Shame. And… sadness.
Pressure helps emotional material come closer to the surface. We’re not pushing for tears – we’re helping the client remain with their truth as anxiety and defence begin to rise.
Phase 3: Clarification – Making Defences Conscious
As emotion nears awareness, defences typically intensify. The aim here is to help the client recognise these defences as they arise.
Transcript:
Me: Just now, you smiled and looked away when you mentioned sadness. Can we pause on that moment?
Client: I didn’t even notice I did that.
Me: That’s OK – many of our habits are automatic. When you turned away, what was happening inside?
Client: I think I didn’t want you to see how I was feeling.
Me: Why not?
Client: I don’t want to come across as weak.
Me: So the smile, the turning away – those may be ways to protect yourself?
Client: Yeah, probably. I’ve done that my whole life.
Me: That makes sense. But it also blocks us from really seeing what’s happening inside, doesn’t it?
Client: (nods) Yeah… I never realised how much I do that.
Clarification builds awareness of habitual patterns. This is where the observing ego begins to strengthen: the client is now noticing what they do and why.
Phase 4: Challenge – Encouraging Relinquishment of Defences
If clarification doesn’t shift the pattern, challenge is used to help the client actively engage with the conflict. The goal isn’t to push, but to invite a choice.
Transcript:
Me: You’ve said you want change – you want to stop withdrawing. But right now, I see you holding back from the very feelings that could help us understand why this happens. What do you make of that?
Client: I guess… I’m scared. But I also want to stop hiding.
Me: I hear both parts. The scared part and the part that wants something different. What would it mean to stay with your sadness right now, instead of moving away?
Client: It feels risky. But it also feels… honest.
Me: Are you willing to try? To stay with what’s real, even if it’s painful?
Client: I’ll try.
Challenge draws on the client’s healthy will – their capacity to make contact with difficult feelings in service of change.
Phase 5: Head-on Collision – Confronting the Resistance
When resistance becomes entrenched, a head-on collision is used to help the client see the cost of staying defended.
Transcript:
Me: We’ve seen that when you get close to your feelings, your defences ramp up. Smiling, changing the topic, shutting down. And that’s what happens in your relationships too, isn’t it?
Client: Yeah.
Me: If this continues – if every time something emotional comes up, you shut down – what will that mean for your life?
Client: (long pause) I’ll stay alone.
Me: And is that what you want?
Client: No. I’m tired of it.
Me: Then let’s really look at that pattern. Right now, in this room, it’s happening again. This is your moment. Are you willing to face it directly?
Client: (visibly moved) I want to.
A head-on collision forces the conflict into full view. The client sees not just their pain, but their role in maintaining it – and the possibility of change.
Phase 6: Breakthrough to Feeling – Experiencing Core Affect
With anxiety regulated and defences lowered, the breakthrough occurs – a moment of genuine contact with previously warded-off feelings.
Transcript:
Client: I think I’ve spent my whole life trying to be what people wanted. I never asked for anything. I thought if I just didn’t need anything, they wouldn’t leave.
Me: How does it feel to say that?
Client: (tears up) Painful. I feel so angry… and so sad.
Me: Can we stay with those feelings together?
Client: (crying) I feel like no one ever saw me. I was always invisible unless I was useful.
Me: And here you are now, letting that part be seen.
Client: Yeah. I didn’t think I could.
This is the heart of the work. Not catharsis for its own sake, but authentic contact with one’s emotional truth.
Phase 7: Systematic Inquiry – Exploring the Experience in Context
We now help the client link their emotional insight to past experiences and current difficulties – turning feeling into understanding.
Transcript:
Me: When you said, “no one ever saw me unless I was useful,” who comes to mind from earlier in your life?
Client: My dad. If I did well in school, he was proud. If I didn’t, he ignored me.
Me: So this sadness and anger – they’re not just about people now, they go way back?
Client: Yeah. I kept trying to be good enough so he’d stay close.
Me: And how do you think that shaped the part of you that withdraws now?
Client: I guess I learned not to show when I was upset. It felt dangerous. Like it would drive people away.
Me: That was a smart strategy back then. But it’s costing you now.
Client: Yeah. I can see that more clearly now.
Insight emerges from connecting past with present, feeling with meaning.
Phase 8: Recapitulation and Integration – Reinforcing Insight and Observing Ego
Finally, we reinforce the gains. The observing ego is now stronger – able to name feelings, recognise defences, and choose emotional honesty.
Transcript:
Me: Looking back, what do you notice about how you used to relate to your feelings?
Client: I didn’t. I avoided them. I shut them down.
Me: And now?
Client: I still get the urge to pull back, but I can see it happening. Sometimes I pause and ask myself what I’m feeling. That never used to happen.
Me: That’s a powerful shift. You’re observing what’s going on rather than getting caught in it.
Client: Yeah. It feels like I’m finally on my own side.
This final phase consolidates change and prepares the client to keep building on it outside the therapy room.
Bringing It All Together: Why the Central Dynamic Sequence Matters
The Central Dynamic Sequence is more than just a roadmap for therapy — it’s the engine that drives real emotional change. By carefully guiding clients through inquiry, pressure, clarification, challenge, and breakthrough, ISTDP helps uncover the deep emotional truths hidden beneath defences and anxiety.
Each phase builds on the last, strengthening the client’s capacity to face difficult feelings with courage and clarity. Through this process, clients develop a stronger observing ego, better insight into their patterns, and greater freedom to live authentically.
If you’ve found yourself stuck in old emotional patterns or feeling overwhelmed by anxiety or numbness, understanding the Central Dynamic Sequence can offer hope. It shows how therapy can gently but powerfully help you break through resistance, connect with core feelings, and heal long-standing emotional wounds.
If you’d like to learn more about how ISTDP can support your emotional growth or are considering therapy, feel free to reach out or explore the resources I offer here.
