What Is Psychotherapy?
What Are The Benefits Of Psychotherapy?
You may be saying to yourself, wait one minute Dan, “I thought you are against Psycho-Therapy! Why are you now changing your mind?” I am not changing my mind, please read on…
Psychotherapy consists of a series of therapeutic techniques. Psychotherapy helps the individual understand why they feel positive, negative or anxious, and how to overcome any challenge in their lives. If people can identify their feelings and ways of thinking they can overcome in-congruent & difficult situations they face.
Medilexicon's medical dictionary says, psychotherapy is the "Treatment of emotional, behavioral, personality, and psychiatric disorders based primarily on verbal or nonverbal communication and interventions with the patient, in contrast to treatments using chemical and physical measures."
Psychotherapy is commonly used for psychological problems that have had a number of years to accumulate. It only works if a trusting relationship can be built up between the individual and the psychotherapist.
So if psychotherapy is positive then why do I appear to be negative about its use?
- Often psychotherapist’s focus on the problem, they look for the origin and address the core issues. This sounds good but in reality if we focus on what is wrong, we get more of what is wrong, “The Law of Attraction” working against us.
- Treatment can continue for multiple years. Honestly, if you are in psychotherapy longer than 6 months there is something wrong, longer than a year you are not focusing on the solution!
- Most psychotherapists are trained in conjunction with the medical model approach.
- Psychotherapy may be practiced on a one-to-one basis, or in pairs, and even in groups.
Some people refer to psychotherapy as talking therapy because it is generally based on talking with a therapist or group of people with similar challenges. Psychotherapy may also use other forms of communication, including writing, artwork, drama, narrative story or music. Sessions take place within a structured encounter between a qualified therapist and a person or group. Psychotherapy started in the 19th century with psychoanalysis; it has developed significantly since then.
A psychotherapist may be a psychologist, social worker, counselor, psychiatric nurse, psychoanalyst, therapist or psychiatrist.
Psychotherapists generally view individual distress as the result of human relationship challenges, rather than as the result of a disorder. Psychotherapists generally consider the wider context of the challenge being reported. Psychiatrists and medical doctors tend to take a more medical approach to mental health and are more inclined to prescribe medication.
Medical approaches see distress as a symptom of a disorder in the same way they may view a signs or symptoms of physical problems, illnesses, and conditions. Therefore, they will link a diagnosis of the disorder to the prescription of specific medications, as well as possible psychological interventions.
Many studies have demonstrated that the most effective treatments for mental illnesses and problems, especially depression, involve a combination of both medication and psychotherapy.
Various Approaches:
Cognitive therapy
How we feel is determined by what we think. For example, if a person has depression it may be the result of having the wrong thoughts and/or beliefs. If these faulty beliefs are corrected then the individual’s view of events and their emotional state may change for the better. The way we think about things affects how we feel emotionally. Cognitive therapy's thrust is on our current thinking, behavior and communication, rather than looking into the past.
Behavior therapy
This type of therapy focuses on helping the individual to understand how changing their behavior can eventually lead to changes in how they are feeling. Behavior therapy aims to substitute undesirable behavior responses with desirable ones.
Psychodynamic therapy
This is also called insight-oriented therapy. It focuses on the automatic processes as that are exhibited in a person's current behavior. This type of therapy aims to increase the person's self-awareness and understanding of the impact of the past on present behavior. It enables the individual to take a good look at unresolved issues and symptoms that arise from past dysfunctional relationships and exhibit themselves in the need and desire to abuse substances.
Interpersonal therapy
Here the individual's interpersonal relationships are the focus. For example, a depressed individual's problem may be treated by improving their communication skills - how they relates to others may be having an impact on their depression. The therapist may start by helping the person identify what their emotion is and where it is coming from and then how to express those emotions in a healthy way. For example, if a person usually responds to a feeling of being neglected by their spouse with anger and sarcasm - this results in the spouse reacting negatively. The individual will learn to express their hurt and anxiety calmly, increasing the chances that the spouse will react in a more positive way.
Family therapy
A family therapist sees the individual's symptoms in the context of the family. For example, if a person has depression, this could be because of an issue within the family, such as may be the case with a teenager whose parents are having marital problems.
Group therapy
In group therapy there are usually between 6 to 12 participants and one therapist in a session. All the participants have related problems. The participants benefit from the therapist, and also by observing how other participants respond to feedback. Getting feedback from other people with related problems gives the participants a different perspective and is frequently helpful in triggering improvement and change.
What do we Suggest?
Locate a therapist that utilizes the positive or necessary features from the above therapeutic approaches with a focus on the aspects that are in congruence with The Universal Laws of living a healthy, prosperous, clean and sober life. A therapist that will focus on your strengths and managing your symptoms while you are developing into the positive motivated individual you want to become!
