Marlena Podbielkowska

Individual psychotherapy


PL
zdjęcie marleny

About me

I am a graduate of Applied Psychology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. I graduated from the School of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy run by the Cracow Center for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy recommended by the Polish Psychological Association and the Polish Society for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. I am a certified psychotherapist with PTPPd accreditation. I am a member of the Polish Society for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

I gained experience working with patients in: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Department of Psychiatry, CM, Jagiellonian University), at the Psychiatric Hospital in the Day Ward of the 5. Military Clinical Hospital in Cracow, at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw at the Day Unit (Affective Disorders) and the Day Unit (Psychotic Disorders), at the Sub-Department of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and the Sub-Department of Affective Disorders at the Department of Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Hospital in Cracow.

I completed two years of specialized training in Transference-Focused Therapy (TFP) conducted by the International Society of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy in cooperation with the Krakow Psychodynamic Center, and passed the international certification exam under the ISTFP (International Society of TFP).

I subject my work to regular individual and group supervision.

I ensure discretion, information obtained during therapy is confidential. Psychotherapists are bound by the Psychologist's Code of Ethics and Professional Secrecy.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy

Therapy is conducted in the psychodynamic current, which can be used by anyone who needs treatment by psychological methods. This method is adequate for people suffering from, among other reasons:

   • depression and other mood disorders
   • anxiety disorders (unjustified anxiety, panic attacks, phobias)
   • personality disorders (e.g., borderline)
   • neurotic symptoms (compulsions, intrusive thoughts, hypochondriacal symptoms)
   • sexual problems (e.g. premature ejaculation, anorgasmia, impotence)
   • sleep problems (nightmares, insomnia)
   • psychosomatic complaints (stomach pains, chest pains, migraines, dermatological problems)

In addition, psychodynamic therapy may be appropriate when a person is not directly experiencing symptoms, but suffers instead from:

   • difficulties in interpersonal or partner relationships
   • difficulty maintaining satisfying relationships with other people
   • lack of satisfaction with life
   • life crises related to the loss of a job or a loved one, etc.
   • low self-esteem
   • unjustified fear, feelings of guilt
   • a sense of constant fatigue, lack of desire to act
   • misunderstanding of emotions and inability to cope with them
   • stress
   • difficulties in making decisions
   • problems with one's own identity

Individual psychotherapy

In conducting individual psychotherapy, I use the Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) method.

What is TFP?

TFP is a continuously developed and empirically validated form of psychodynamic psychotherapy constructed for the treatment of personality disorders. TFP is the result of integrating knowledge from classical psychoanalytic theories with contemporary contributions from the areas of neuroscience and attachment research. The result of this integration is Otto Kernberg's structural theory, from which the strategies, tactics and techniques used in TFP are derived.

Focused Transference Therapy is distinguished by a certain degree of proceduralization of this method, allowing for easy access to detailed manuals, more precise empirical verification, and a relatively easier training process for applying this psychotherapy.

The characteristics of TFP are:

  • a detailed diagnostic process
  • a particularly thorough process of conducting the therapeutic contract,
  • a more active attitude of the therapist compared to other psychodynamic approaches

Transference-focused therapy is a constantly evolving form of psychotherapy to adapt it to the widest possible patient population.

It was developed primarily to treat patients:

  • presenting a serious threat to themselves and others,
  • unable to hold down a job,
  • building more long-term intimate relationships,
  • unfit or isolated from society.

In addition, I also use the method of psychodynamic psychotherapy (Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology, DPHP) of relatively high- functioning patients with mild personality pathology.

The development of TFP gave rise to the founding of the International Society of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (ISTFP), which is charged with educating and certifying new TFP therapists, as well as popularizing the method through systematic research, publications and international conferences.

Supportive psychotherapy for moms and pregnant women

I provide supportive psychotherapy mainly for pregnant, postpartum women, which can be an effective form of psychological help during this particularly sensitive period.

Pregnancy represents a significant life change for most women. The biological changes associated with it, including especially complications in its course and in the course of childbirth, carry the risk of developing a variety of psychological difficulties and mental disorders.

Possible emerging difficulties :

 • dissatisfaction with life
 • feeling of isolation and loneliness
 • feeling of isolation and loneliness
 • pseudo-pregnancy (so-called "imaginary pregnancy")
 • conflicts during pregnancy (sometimes related to abortion)
 • pain associated with infertility
 • difficult experiences during childbirth
 • problems forming a bond with the child
 • difficulties in feeding the child ( especially related to breastfeeding)
 • problems with separation from the child
 • aggressive thoughts toward self or child
 • experiencing a huge life change
 • unsatisfactory relationship with partner
 • feeling objectified during pregnancy or after childbirth
 • feeling that one is dangerous to the fetus or stalked by the fetus
 • with reproductive issues (assisted conception)
 • multiple pregnancies
 • unsuccessful results of prenatal tests
 • miscarriages
 • stillbirth
 • premature birth
 • illness or death of the newborn

Psychotherapy is therefore proving to be a useful method of assistance, even if the indications for its use are due to the presence of mild psychological difficulties that do not necessarily bear the hallmarks of serious mental disorders.
The use of psychotherapy during pregnancy or after birth may result from the woman's revealed need for support. In this case, psychotherapy during pregnancy can also help a woman identify with her role as a mother. There are studies that show that, satisfaction with motherhood is linked to a woman's mental state during pregnancy, a positive emotional relationship with the child during prenatal development, as well as mood during childbirth.

Price list

Psychotherapy in English/ meeting lasts 50 min - 250 zł

We decide on the form of psychotherapy or undertaking further psychotherapeutic contact after several initial diagnostic consultations.
I conduct psychotherapy once or twice a week depending on the individual needs of the patient. The length of psychotherapy also remains an individual issue.