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  • Our Therapists
  • What We Treat
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  • Resources
    • Addiction Guide
      • Adderall Guide | Side Effects
      • Alcohol Addiction
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Cocaine Withdrawal
      • Fentanyl Guide | Addiction Treatment
      • Heroin Addiction Guide
      • Meth Guide
      • Online Alcoholics Anonymous
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      • Tramadol Guide | Side Effects | Addiction Treatment
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      • How a Substance Abuse Counselor Helps
      • Spirituality in Addiction Treatment  
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      • How can counseling help depression?
      • Treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
    • Bipolar Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment
      • Is bipolar disorder genetic and triggered later on?
      • Is cognitive therapy effective for bipolar disorder?
    • Children & Adolescents Guide
      • 10 Warning Signs of Teenage Mental Illness
      • Munchausen Syndrome
      • How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health?
      • Oppositional Defiant Disorder
      • Spotting Types of Depression in Children
      • Teen Suicide
      • Top Tips For Parents
      • Video Game Therapy for ADHD
      • What is a Residential Mental Health Facility for Teenagers Like
      • Why Is Mental Health on the Rise Amongst Teenagers?
    • Is Social Media Ruining Our Self-Esteem? 
    • Mental Health Guide
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Guide to Anxiety Medication
      • Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
      • High Functioning Depression | Signs | Symptoms
      • How Can We Prevent Mental Illness in Youth?
      • How Do You Help Someone with Avoidant Personality?
      • How Does Online Counseling Work for Mental Health?
      • How Can a Mental Health Counselor Help
      • Mental Breakdown
      • Schizoid Personality Disorder
      • Postpartum Depression
      • Types of Mood Disorders
      • The Toll of Grief and How to Cope with It
      • What are The Major Affective Disorders?
      • What Cognitive Psychology Teaches Us About How We Think
      • What Is Clinical Mental Health Counseling
      • What are mental health symptoms you should never ignore?
      • What is Bipolar II Disorder? Symptoms and Treatment
      • What is the Difference Between Manic and Hypomanic?
      • What is schizoaffective disorder?
      • Is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) a mental illness?
      • What is substance induced mood disorder?
      • Is Depression a Permanent Mental Disorder?
      • What is the prognosis for Major Depressive Disorder?
    • Marriage Counseling | Benefits
    • Pandemic Related Issues
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Work Stress Post-Pandemic
      • Shocking Growth of Anxiety During the Pandemic
    • Relationship Issues
      • How to deal with toxic relationship?
      • How does a toxic relationship affect your mental health?
      • What is gaslighting in a relationship?
      • What is the best way to help a partner who has trust issues?
      • What’s the best way to work out relationship problems?
      • 10 ways to improve communication in relationships
    • Spirituality in Addiction Treatment  
    • Therapy
      • Can I See a Psychiatrist Without a Referral?
      • DBT Therapy for Adolescents
      • DCBT- Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
      • Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat OCD
      • Do I Need a Referral to See a Therapist?
      • Family Therapy: Definition, Types, Techniques, and Efficacy
      • How Can Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) Help Mental Disorders?
      • EMDR Therapy for Mental Health Conditions
      • Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist
      • Is Therapy Covered by Health Insurance?
      • Psychodynamic Therapy vs CBT
      • Psychotherapy
      • SMART Recovery
      • What Can Psychologists Treat
      • What is Group Therapy
      • What is Internal Family Systems Therapy
      • What Is the Role of the Counselor in Family Therapy
      • What Is Psychoanalysis
    • Trauma Bonding With Intimate Partner Violence
    • Teen Mental Health
      • Can a Minor Go to Therapy Without Parents Permission?
      • Teen Co-Occurring Disorders
      • What are the signs of depression in adolescents?
      • warning signs of suicide in adolescents
      • Mental Health Benefits of Exercise in Teens
      • How is the pandemic affecting mental health in teenagers?
    • Types of Disorder
      • Anti-Social Personality Disorder
      • Autism Spectrum Disorder
      • Avoidant Personality Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder Symptoms | Causes | Diagnosis
      • Diagnosing and Treating an Adjustment Disorder
      • Histrionic Personality Disorder
      • Intermittent Explosive Disorder
      • Paranoid Personality Disorder
    • Veterans Guide
      • Functional Medicine for Military
      • Service Dogs Help Veterans with PTSD
    • Process Addiction
      • Gambling addiction
      • How do you know if you have an addictive personality?
      • What is Impulse-Control Disorder?
      • Process Addiction


Different Approaches to Psychotherapy

Unlike counseling, psychotherapy is used in the treatment of chronic conditions and can be approached in different settings and formats.

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy describes all forms of treating mental health problems through talking to a medical professional. This treatment can include talking to a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or other mental health professionals in a setting most known as “mental health therapy” to foster a better understanding of events, circumstances, and even thought processes. Psychotherapy techniques are designed to work through mental health problems in a verbal way that allows for the patient to understand and learn more about their condition, moods, and feelings.1 

History of Psychotherapy

Critical thinking as a method of healing mental illness has been around for centuries but modernized scientific psychotherapy can trace its roots back to the mid to late 19th century under Wilhelm Wundt, who founded the first psychology laboratory.2 Throughout the 20th century, different forms of psychotherapy emerged, as well as new research and studies. However, despite the innovation within the psychology community during the century, mental health and mental illness were highly stigmatized, and care for patients rarely reached adequate. Today, however, early psychology has become innovated both technologically as well as socially, and psychotherapy is one of the most recommended mental health services available. From aiding in the treatment of mental illnesses to acting as a mediator in familial and romantic relationships, psychotherapy makes healthy communication and behaviors accessible to the greater population.

What Can Psychotherapy Treat?

Some of the disorders and conditions that psychotherapy can help treat include:

Depression

Psychotherapy helps pinpoint the behaviors and mindsets that trigger depression symptoms. Different forms of psychotherapy can recognize harmful mindsets while also working through positive reinforcement and self-analysis for recovery.  

Anxiety

Like depression, psychotherapy can be beneficial in treating the signs and symptoms of anxiety while also working to address the source of the condition.  

Substance Use Disorder

One of the fundamental steps in recovering from a substance use disorder is detox. During this time, however, it is important to address triggers for unhealthy behaviors while also teaching positive coping mechanisms as the body recovers. Psychotherapy can be beneficial in providing the tools for people recovering from substance use disorders.   

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders can be caused or made worse by body dysmorphia and other mental conditions. However, psychotherapy can be beneficial in addressing and correcting these conditions.   

PTSD

For post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the most important aspects of a healthy life includes developing safe, positive coping skills. Psychotherapy can provide these tools while also working to address the source of trauma to aid in recovery.   

The Benefits of Psychotherapy

One of the reasons that psychotherapy is a popular treatment option is because of its many benefits. Psychotherapy can be utilized alone or with other treatments to help recover – or to simply recognize and correct behaviors for improved quality of life.

Identifies Issues

Psychotherapists are certified with the skillset and knowledge to recognize, identity, and treat issues, as well as their sources and associated behaviors.

Understand Emotions

The patient will be able to identify the sources of their emotions and come to understand why they experience emotion the way that they do.

Regain Control

Through understanding the source of issues and the consequential emotional response, the patient has the benefit of regaining control over their condition as well as their treatment. Psychotherapy techniques can be taught and utilized outside of the therapy setting, allowing for improved quality of life.

Learn Coping Techniques

Once issues and associated behaviors and effects are identified, appropriate coping techniques can be used to aid in recovery.

Therapy Formats

PTSD

In individual therapy, the patient will undergo psychotherapy practices only with their psychotherapist. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, individual psychotherapy has also taken a digital format.3 

Group Therapy

Group therapy involves multiple patients simultaneously holding a session with at least a single psychotherapist. This format allows for peer discussion and motivation, and it is often seen in an in-patient or rehabilitation setting.

Group therapy can also take different forms, such as familial or domestic therapy.   

Family Therapy

Trauma can present itself in a family, either as an external or internal source affecting the whole. As a result, psychotherapy conducted between a family is beneficial in recognizing harmful issues or behaviors while also striving for reconciliation and recovery.   

Marriage or Couples Therapy

Like family therapy, marriage or couples therapy conducted by a psychotherapist can be beneficial in mediating concerns for a healthier relationship.  

Types of Psychotherapies

Psychotherapy can come in many forms, allowing it to work as a treatment for different types of people. Some of the most common types of psychotherapy include:

Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychoanalysis is a form of psychotherapy where the focus is to treat mental conditions through an analysis of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind, such as memories, dreams, and fears.

Behavioral Therapy

In contrast, behavior therapy focuses on triggers and the sources as well as impacts of different behaviors. It is usually paired with the cognitive therapy aspect for a holistic experience.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy is a short-term therapy used to help patients understand the link between thoughts and behaviors. Its focus is correcting behaviors that could harm the body and encouraging safer, healthier behaviors through reasoning and positive reinforcement. It is often paired with behavior therapy for cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Humanistic Therapy

Humanistic therapy highlights the importance of individualism and personal existence in the free world.

Integrative or Holistic Therapy

Integrative therapy is a progression psychotherapy format that combines several or all the tools provided in the formats to target different areas as one and provide holistic recovery.

Statistics on the Effectiveness of Psychotherapies

The effectiveness of psychotherapies has been highlighted in several scientific articles, including those by the National Institute for Health. Of these, the results are conclusive that psychotherapy is beneficial.4 Psychotherapy has been proven to result in symptom reduction in most cases, including with around severe pathology. These statistics have been supported through meta-analytics.

Other Treatment Methods

Psychotherapy can be beneficial for nearly everyone. However, for some people, other treatment methods are used alongside psychotherapy to progress recovery. Some of these alternative methods include medications as well as rehabilitation.  

Medications

While therapy can be a useful tool in identifying triggers and sources for mental health problems, for more severe cases, additional treatment methods are necessary. For common problems that include side effects or noticeable symptoms that impair daily function, medication is used to regulate and control symptoms.

Here are some of the most used medications used alongside psychotherapy to treat common mental health problems:   

Depression

  • Escitalopram
  • Trazodone
  • Duloxetine
  • Citalopram
  • Bupropion
  • Clomipramine

Anxiety

  • Alprazolam
  • Diazepam
  • Lorazepam
  • Fluoxetine
  • Sertraline
  • Escitalopram

PTSD

  • Sertraline
  • Paroxetine
  • Fluoxetine
  • Venlafaxine

Detox and Rehabilitation

For patients going through detox and rehabilitation, psychotherapy helps them move away from unhealthy behaviors and replace them with safe and healthy coping mechanisms. For people with substance abuse disorders or eating disorders, rehabilitation is an especially important step to recovery.

For those with a substance abuse disorder, rehabilitation usually combines cognitive-behavioral therapy with contingency management, so the individual recognizes negative triggers and redirects their attention to healthy coping mechanisms.

In most in-patient facilities, a combination of individual and group psychotherapy is used.  

Resources

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6448000/
  2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0952695117703243
  3. https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20050557
  4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19205963/#:~:text=Psychotherapy%20yielded%20large%20mean%20ESs,pathology%2C%20the%20results%20were%20similar

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