Should "Psychodynamics" Cease to Exist?

Abstract

This article considers the use of the term psychodynamics. I reflect on a recent exchange with a reviewer who suggested that the adjective psychodynamic is the preferred term, and I make a case for the importance of the noun form. The implication of the elimination of the noun form may have far-reaching unconscious meaning about the perception of psychodynamics, and whether psychodynamics exists only when there is conscious effort of its application, such as in outpatient psychotherapy. This has bearing on how psychodynamics is currently taught in training programs and perhaps the role of psychodynamics in larger practice.