Therapy Demonstration Videos
The videos below were created to give you a sense of what therapy can actually feel like. While the characters are computer-generated, the scenarios are based on real patterns I see in my work as an ISTDP therapist.
Each video shows key moments that often come up in therapy, like learning to regulate anxiety, breaking through emotional defences, or making sense of early relationship patterns that still affect us now.
These aren’t recordings of real sessions, but they’re grounded in the same clinical principles that guide real ISTDP therapy, offering a window into how this work can help people move forward.
Working with Anxiety: An ISTDP Demonstration
In this video, we follow a client who has struggled with anxiety for most of their life.
Despite understanding their triggers and trying various techniques, the anxiety persists.
Through the session, we see how ISTDP focuses on what’s happening in the moment, helping the client regulate anxiety by becoming more present with their internal experience.
The narrator guides you step by step through how the therapist works to uncover the hidden emotional conflicts driving the anxiety.
Repeating Patterns in Relationships
This video explores a client who finds themselves stuck in recurring patterns, pushing people away, choosing emotionally unavailable partners, or ending relationships before they get hurt.
The session highlights how ISTDP addresses the emotional defences and underlying fears that block intimacy and connection.
A narrator explains what’s happening throughout, so you can see how therapy works to bring greater emotional clarity and change.
When Insight Isn’t Enough: Addressing Lack of Motivation
Here we meet a client who feels emotionally disconnected from life.
They’ve been through therapy, gained insight, and can reflect on their difficulties, but nothing has shifted.
This video shows how ISTDP helps go beyond insight, working experientially to unlock the feelings and self-critical patterns that keep motivation and aliveness out of reach.
With narration throughout, you’ll see how the therapist works to bring the client into deeper contact with themselves.
What these demonstrations aim to show
These videos are intended to provide a clear and accessible representation of how ISTDP works in practice.
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Rather than offering general descriptions of therapy, they show how a session might progress, what the therapist listens for, how emotion is worked with, and what begins to shift when the process is effective.
They are suitable for anyone curious about ISTDP, including prospective clients, mental health professionals, or anyone seeking a better understanding of what change can look like in a therapeutic context.