The clinical pictures of phobias and panic disorders, which fall under anxiety disorders, exemplify the psychodynamic notion that psychological symptoms can be understood as solutions to inner psychological conflicts that can no longer be managed in other ways, thus having meaning and purpose. The authors draw a connection from Freud's early clinical theories on anxiety disorders to new psychodynamic short-term therapies. These therapies have been empirically tested for their effectiveness and contribute to securing the long-threatened position of psychodynamic psychotherapy in healthcare due to a lack of evidence of efficacy. These new manualized approaches are sometimes received quite critically in the psychoanalytic community, with questions raised about whether they still constitute psychotherapy derived from psychoanalysis.