0 
0 By Avion Anderson
Psychotherapy is one of the oldest and greatest forms of non-medical treatment and therapy known to help an individual with mental illness and all other emotional difficulties lead a more better and productive life.
What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is commonly called ‘talk therapy,’ and sometimes ‘talking cure’ or ‘talking treatment’. In psychotherapy, a medical professional, such as a psychotherapist or psychologist communicates with an individual or group, in order to help that individual, or group of persons, with a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties.
Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms, by focusing during sessions on topics such as past or current problems – experiences, thoughts, feelings or relationships experienced by the person – which they have difficulty in dealing and coping with in everyday life. Topics may include the impact of trauma, medical illness or loss, like the death of a loved one, and specific mental disorders, like depression or anxiety, to help the person function better and increase their well-being and healing.
Psychotherapy sessions
Psychotherapy sessions are conducted with an individual, couple or group, or a family setting that helps both the children and adults. Most sessions are 30 to 50 minutes long. Both the patient and the psychotherapist need to be actively involved in psychotherapy.
A trusting relationship between a person and his/her psychotherapist is essential to working together effectively and benefiting from psychotherapy. But trust might be difficult when dealing with some mental illnesses, when one of the symptoms can be that the patient suffers from serious trust issues and trusts no one, not even their own shadow.
Psychotherapy can be short-term (a few sessions), when dealing with immediate issues, or long-term (months or years), when dealing with longstanding and complex issues. The patient and psychotherapist jointly plan goals of treatment and arrangements for how often and how long to meet. For me, mine might take a year, give or take.
Confidentiality is a basic and fundamental requirement of psychotherapy. Also, although patients share personal feelings and thoughts, intimate physical contact with a psychotherapist is never appropriate, acceptable, or useful.
Who are psychotherapists?
Psychotherapists are mental health professionals who are trained to listen to a person’s problems to try to find out what’s causing them, and to help the person find a solution. As well as listening and discussing important issues with you, a psychotherapist can suggest strategies for resolving problems and, if necessary, help you change your attitudes and behaviour.
Some therapists teach specific skills to help you tolerate painful emotions, manage relationships more effectively, or improve behaviour. A therapist may also encourage you to develop your own solutions. In group therapy, the members support each other with advice and encouragement. A therapist will treat sessions as confidential. This means you can trust them with information that may be personal or embarrassing.
What does psychotherapy treat?
Psychotherapy can be used to treat a wide range of mental health conditions/disorders and illnesses, such as:
– Depression
– Anxiety disorders
– Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
– Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
– Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
– Long-term illnesses
– Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating
– Drug misuse
People with significant emotional problems may also benefit from psychotherapy, including people dealing with stress, bereavement, divorce, redundancy, or relationship problems.
Psychotherapy and medication
Medication is often used in combination with psychotherapy to treat mental health conditions/disorders and illnesses, when there’s a possibility that it would be useful. For many people, combined medication and psychotherapy treatment is better than either alone. Healthy lifestyle improvements, such as good nutrition, regular exercise and adequate sleep, can also be important in supporting recovery and overall wellness. Personally, I’d rather avoid taking any form of medication during therapy.
Does psychotherapy work?
In my own personal opinion and from what I have researched on the internet, yes, I do believe that psychotherapy works. It helps to improve emotions and behaviors, and is linked with positive changes in the brain and body. The benefits can also include fewer sick days, less disability, fewer medical problems and increased work satisfaction, so that the person is able to lead a more functional and better life.
Types of psychotherapy
There are several types of psychotherapy that a psychotherapist may ask a patient to participate in. Not everyone is the same: not every patient’s mental health condition, disorder and illness is the same, and nor are their symptoms. Each individual may respond better to one type of therapy than another, so a psychotherapist will take things like the nature of the problem being treated and the person’s personality into account when determining which psychotherapy treatment will be most effective.
The different types of psychotherapy are as follows:
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
This is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on exploring relationships between a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors. During CBT the psychotherapist will actively work with a person to uncover unhealthy patterns of thought and how they may be causing self-destructive behaviors and beliefs.
1in4 UK Book Store:
[amazon_link asins='1977009336' template='ProductGrid' store='iam1in4-20' marketplace='US' link_id='ffcb5f04-1297-11e8-8b2c-c721ea9703cc']
By addressing these patterns, the person and the psychotherapist can work together to develop constructive ways of thinking that will produce healthier behaviors and beliefs. The core principles of CBT are identifying negative or false beliefs and testing or restructuring them.
Oftentimes, someone receiving CBT will have homework in between sessions. They practise replacing negative thoughts with more realistic thoughts based on prior experiences, or record their negative thoughts in a journal. CBT can help with a wide variety of mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia.
Cognitive analytical therapy (CAT)
CAT uses methods from both psychodynamic psychotherapy and CBT, to work out how your thoughts and behaviour cause problems, and how to improve them through self-help and experimentation.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
This type of psychotherapy was originally developed to treat chronically suicidal individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Over time, DBT has been adapted to treat people with multiple different mental illnesses, but most people who are treated with DBT have BPD as a primary diagnosis.
DBT is heavily based on CBT, but with one big exception. It emphasizes validation: accepting uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and behaviors instead of struggling with them. Through coming to terms with the troubling thoughts, emotions or behaviors that they struggle with, a person can see that change is possible, and can work with their therapist to create a gradual plan for recovery.
The psychotherapist’s role in DBT is to help the person find a balance between acceptance and change. They also help the person develop new skills, like coping methods and mindfulness practices, so that the person then has the power to improve unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.
Similarly to CBT, DBT usually involves practising these new methods of thinking and behaving in homework between sessions. Improving coping strategies is an essential aspect of successful DBT treatment. This can produce significant and long-lasting improvement for people experiencing a mental illness.
Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
Therapists use this type of psychotherapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It can reduce the emotional distress resulting from traumatic memories. EMDR replaces negative emotional reactions to difficult memories with less-charged or positive reactions or beliefs.
Performing a series of back and forth, repetitive eye movements for 20–30 seconds can help individuals change their emotional reactions. The psychotherapist might refer to this exercise as ‘dual stimulation’. The back and forth eye movements, or specific sequences of tapping or musical tones, stimulate the patient’s brain. Simultaneously, the individual stimulates memories by recalling a traumatic event.
There is controversy about whether eye movement is an essential aspect of EMDR, or whether the benefit is solely from the exposure inherent in the treatment.
Exposure Therapy
This is a type of CBT that therapists frequently use to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD and phobias. During treatment, a person works with a psychotherapist to identify the triggers of their anxiety. They learn techniques to avoid performing rituals or becoming anxious when encountering the triggers. The person confronts whatever triggers them in a controlled environment, where they can safely practise implementing these strategies.
There are two methods of exposure therapy. ‘Flooding’ presents a large amount of the triggering stimulus all at once. ‘Desensitization’ presents small amounts first, and escalates over time. Both help the person learn how to cope with what triggers their anxiety. Then they can apply their coping skills to everyday life.
Interpersonal Therapy
This type of therapy focuses on the relationships a person has with others. The goal is improving the person’s interpersonal skills. In this form of psychotherapy, the psychotherapist helps people evaluate their social interactions and recognize negative patterns, like social isolation or aggression. It therefore helps them learn strategies for understanding and interacting positively with others.
Therapists most often use interpersonal therapy when treating depression, but may also recommend it for other mental health conditions.
Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT)
This type of psychotherapy can bring long-term improvement for people with BPD. It allows the person to engage and exercise an important skill called mentalizing. Mentalizing refers to the intuitive process that gives us a sense of self.
When people consciously perceive and understand their own inner feelings and thoughts, this is mentalizing. People also use mentalizing to perceive the behavior of others and to speculate about their feelings and thoughts. Mentalizing thus plays an essential role in helping us connect with other people.
BPD often causes feelings of emptiness and an unstable self-image. Relationships with others also tend to be unstable. MBT addresses this emptiness or instability by teaching skills in mentalizing. It helps people to address weak feelings of self, over-attachment to others, and difficulty empathizing with the inner lives of other people. I have to research this form of psychotherapy more, as this is as far as I understand.
Psychodynamic therapy
Psychodynamic therapy aims to recognize negative patterns of behavior and feeling that past experiences have caused, and to resolve them. This type of therapy uses open-ended questions and free association. People then have the opportunity to identify and discuss whatever is on their minds.
The therapist then works with the person to sift through these thoughts. They identify unconscious patterns of negative behavior or feelings, and also how past experiences and unresolved feelings may be causing the problems. Bringing these associations to the person’s attention helps them learn to overcome the unhelpful behaviors and feelings.
Psychodynamic therapy is often useful for treating depression, anxiety disorders, BPD and other mental illnesses.
Psychoanalysis
This is a more intensive form of psychodynamic therapy. Sessions typically take place three or more times a week.
Supportive therapy
This type of therapy uses guidance and encouragement to help patients develop their own resources. It helps build self-esteem, reduce anxiety, strengthen coping mechanisms and improve social and community functioning. Supportive psychotherapy helps patients deal with issues related to their mental health conditions that affect the rest of their lives.
Additional types of therapies
These are sometimes used in combination with psychotherapy:
– Animal-assisted therapy: Working with dogs, horses or other animals can bring comfort, help with communication and help people cope with trauma.
– Creative arts therapy: The use of art, dance, drama, music and poetry therapies.
– Play therapy: Helps children to identify and talk about their emotions and feelings.
Reproduced with permission, originally posted on avionneslegacy
UNITED STATES
UNITED KINGDOM
