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Psychotherapy - what is it? Psychotherapy is one of the methods of treating diseases, disorders and abnormalities in the human psyche. Depending on the problem and its severity, various types and methods of psychotherapy are used. The most popular methods include psychodynamic, humanistic, systemic, cognitive-behavioral therapy, Gest alt psychotherapy and solution-focused therapy. They all share a common element, which is the direct contact of the psychotherapist with the patient. Learn about the assumptions of individual methods of psychotherapy and find out what they are all about.

Psychotherapyis not only a method of treating mental disorders. It is also used to "improve" the psychological nature and increase the personality potential.Psychotherapycan change attitudes and improve the ability to cope with certain emotions.

Contents:

  1. Psychotherapy: definition
  2. Who is a psychotherapist?
  3. Psychotherapy: what does it help?
  4. What is psychotherapy? Types of psychotherapy
  5. Individual psychotherapy
  6. Group psychotherapy
  7. Marital psychotherapy
  8. Family psychotherapy
  9. Effectiveness of psychotherapy
  10. What should a psychotherapist be like?

Psychotherapy: definition

The idea of ​​psychotherapy comes from several sciences, incl. philosophy, psychology and medicine. Generally speaking, psychotherapy is a set of methods of treating various disorders and problems of a psychological nature, which is based on direct contact between the doctor and the patient. It includes a series of meetings between the patient and the therapist, individually or in a larger group, depending on the type of therapy. Psychotherapy can only be conducted by specialists in the knowledge of the human psyche - psychologists and psychiatrists. In difficult disorders and diseases, psychotherapy may only be an element of treatment, e.g. apart from pharmacological treatment. Drugs are added to treatment when mental problems make the daily functioning of the patient extremely difficult.

Psychologists call psychotherapy "a journey into the depths of man". The patient takes this journey, the therapist is only a kind of guide who also cares about safety"Traveling".

A patient using psychotherapy does not have to experience mental disorders, but may only feel the need to improve the quality of his emotional life. Psychotherapy can, inter alia, increase motivation to act, improve self-confidence or improve communication with other people. Thus, therapy can be helpful not only in improving the quality of personal, but also professional life.

Psychotherapy, in addition to its healing function, has a supporting role - it teaches how to use the natural potential that already exists in a person. Psychotherapy is mainly based on conversations between the therapist and the patient, but many therapists also use other elements such as: therapeutic drawing, play, experiments, writing letters, symbol analysis, hypnosis, rituals and spatial settings.

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Who is a psychotherapist?

Properly qualified specialists are authorized to conduct psychotherapy. To become a psychotherapist, one must graduate from higher education - preferably psychology, psychiatry, pedagogy or medicine, and then complete professional postgraduate training in psychotherapy, confirmed by a certificate. The training is very demanding and time-consuming, it lasts a minimum of 4 years. During the training, the future psychotherapist must also undergo his own psychotherapy, which will allow him to better understand the feelings of his future patients.

Psychotherapists usually specialize in a specific topic and conduct therapies within it. There are therapists specializing in the treatment of addictions or disorders, family therapists, group therapists, and children.

To be sure that the therapist chosen by us is a specialist in his field, you can ask him to present his qualifications (certificates of completed courses and trainings), discuss the type of psychotherapy offered and ask about experience in solving a problem with which to we came to him.

Psychotherapy: what does it help?

Psychotherapy works well in the treatment of disorders such as depression, anxiety, neurosis, phobias, and eating disorders. It can be helpful when the patient cannot emotionally cope with certain life situations, e.g. mourning, losing motivation to act, becoming addicted to something, feeling helpless, unable to get out of difficult relationships (e.g. at work). Psychotherapy heals the soul, but also neutralizes somatic symptoms. It is also an effective support intreatment of diseases of completely different origin, e.g. asthma, migraines, allergies, atopic dermatitis or cardiovascular diseases. Therapy changes the patient's attitude towards treatment, which is of great importance e.g. for cancer patients.

Hear what the psychotherapist says about psychotherapy

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What is psychotherapy? Types of psychotherapy

What is psychotherapy? It depends on its specific type. Thanks to many trends in psychotherapy, it can be perfectly adapted to the patient's problem and its specificity. Each type of psychotherapy is characterized by a different source of inspiration, approach, method of therapy and theoretical assumptions. The main currents of psychotherapy are:

  • cognitive behavioral therapy

This is one of the most popular and most effective methods of psychotherapy. It comes from behaviorism, i.e. the belief that behavioral disturbances are the result of learned responses to various stimuli.

Assumptions:The aim of the therapy is to teach the patient old, incorrect reactions and to develop new behaviors and change his / her way of thinking. The therapy is based on an educational approach - the patient acquires skills thanks to which he will be able to solve his problems on his own.

How long does it take:The therapy usually lasts from 10 to 16 hour sessions.

For whom:This is the most effective therapy for treating depression and anxiety. It is also used to treat eating disorders, post-traumatic stress and personality disorders.

  • humanistic therapy

Assumptions:The therapy assumes that each person has a huge potential (abilities, talents) that he should use for self-development. In humanistic therapy, each patient is treated subjectively, empathically and with great understanding. It is believed that everyone's problems arise from the fact that they use inappropriate norms and values ​​that conflict with their real needs.

How long it takes:Therapy can be short-term and long-term. It all depends on the type of problem and its scale.

For whom : Therapy allows you to get out of difficult life situations. It effectively treats disorders such as neurosis, anxiety, depression and eating disorders. It helps to cope with difficult childhood experiences, but also to get out of the trap of present life, e.g. marked by domestic violence. Therapy can help build a normal relationship, improve relationships with those who have relationships with themproblem.

  • Gest alt psychotherapy

This is a kind of humanistic psychotherapy based on the conviction of human complexity.

Assumptions:The aim of the therapy is to increase the patient's self-awareness towards enjoying life and to show how to solve problems using inner strength and own abilities. The patient gets to know himself better, discovers his dormant potential, achieves inner harmony, learns the truth about himself, gets rid of stereotypes about himself and becomes aware of his limitations, which in turn makes his life easier.

How long does it take:This is a long-term therapy. It lasts from one to several years.

For whom:The therapy works for most psychological problems. Most often it serves those who want to better understand themselves and improve the quality of their lives, e.g. by eliminating internal conflicts. It is very rarely used in the treatment of addiction.

  • system psychotherapy

This is a type of therapy that is usually attended by several people. It can be family or marriage psychotherapy.

Assumptions:The goal of systemic therapy is to improve relationships between people in a relationship or in the family. Since the people undergoing treatment are a specific system, the most important thing is to improve communication, introduce rules and outline the structure to make the system work properly. Individual system psychotherapy is possible, usually in a situation where an individual of a given system (a family member) feels overwhelmed by shared responsibility and wants to decide for himself.

How long it takes:The duration of the therapy is very different and depends on the problem. It can last from several weeks to several years.

For whom:The therapy is best suited to solving marital problems (marriage therapy) or educational problems, but also in situations of emotional crises such as the death of a family member, his illness or divorce .

  • narrative psychotherapy

Narrative therapy can take place both individually and in a group.

Assumptions:The specificity of therapy is based on the belief that every person is a narrator of his life. The way we talk about our experiences and feelings shapes the way we perceive them and gives them meaning. In this type of therapy, there is a partnership relationship between the therapist and the patient - the therapist takes over the language of the patient's speech in order to be able to communicate with him on one level. The goal of therapy ischanging the patient's narrative where it introduces a misinterpretation.

How long it takes:The therapy has no strict time frame. Its length is dependent on, among others on the type of patient's problem.

For whom:Therapy is for people who experience difficulties in coping with life and want to improve its quality and find life goals. It is recommended in the treatment of depression and other disorders that also affect the relatives of the patient.

  • psychoanalysis (analytical psychotherapy)

Initiated by Sigmund Freud, who stated 100 years ago that current human problems result from difficult personality, internal conflicts and past events.

Assumptions:The therapy is usually based on individual meetings and involves a conversation - the patient can lie on a couch and talk about important things, thoughts, feelings and associations. At the same time, the therapist tries to give meaning to these statements and make the patient aware of what problems and life experiences affect his current perception of reality.

How long:The therapy has a high frequency (meetings several times a week) and is a long process. Psychoanalysis takes an average of 5 to 7 years.

For whom:Psychoanalysis helps to cope with difficult, often recurring emotions that take over the patient's life, e.g. anxiety, aggression, sadness, mood swings, low mood. It can also be effective in treating somatic symptoms.

  • psychodynamic therapy

This trend comes from the belief that human behavior is the effect of being controlled by internal, unconscious mechanisms and hidden needs.

Assumptions:The patient confides to the therapist everything he wants to share. The therapist sets therapeutic goals and helps the patient achieve them. The doctor's goal is to catch the patient's unconscious impulses and tendencies during the session, the so-called neurotic symptoms and subjecting them to psychoanalysis.

How long does it take:Usually it is a long-term therapy.

For whom:The therapy works well in the treatment of personality disorders. It heals from morbid shyness, aggression, overwhelming sadness and a sense of unhappiness. Can be effective in recovery from addiction.

Worth knowing

Psychotherapy usually lasts about 45-60 minutes at a time. Most often they are meetings once a week, although the frequency may be higher or lower. The duration of therapy is not specified. It all depends on the problem and its advancement. There are situations whenonly a few sessions are enough or those when the expected effect is achieved only after years of therapy. The duration of psychotherapy is determined at the beginning of treatment.

The length of the therapy depends on the problem the patient is struggling with and its intensity. The specificity of some mental disorders requires long-term treatment, for others, effective cure is possible after a few meetings. So we distinguish between long-term and short-term therapy. Short-term therapy is focused on a specific goal (problem). In the case of long-term therapy, the problem is very general, requiring in-depth analysis and investigation.

  • process-oriented psychotherapy

Assumptions:Initially, the therapy focused on connecting dreams with the behavior of the body, today it analyzes all human experiences that the patient talks about during the therapy - most often these are descriptions of events that had just occurred a great impression on him. In this description, the therapist must capture the potential to change the patient's behavior and distinguish it in such a way that it becomes noticeable also to him.

How long it takes:The therapy does not define a time frame and may last from several weeks to several years. Everything is determined in the assumptions of the therapy, after the therapist gets acquainted with the scale and specificity of the patient's problem.

For whom:Therapy helps to heal anxiety, depression and neurosis. It also serves victims of violence and other abuses.

  • ericksonian therapy

Assumptions:The assumption of the therapy is that every person is a unique individual, therefore the therapy itself should be tailored to his measure. According to the creator of this psychotherapy - Erickson, everyone has the potential to solve problems. The most important thing is to find this potential by initiating some kind of change in your life. To discover hidden resources, the patient is often hypnotized.

How long does it last:It can be both short-term and long-term therapy. It all depends on the type of problem and its scale.

For whom : The therapy is used to treat anxiety, depression, eating disorders, but also somatic symptoms. It can be a method of marital therapy.

  • TSR - solution focused therapy

Assumptions:The most important thing in this therapeutic method is to focus on the goal to be achieved, not on analyzing the events that have become the source of problems.

How long does it take:The therapy focuses on getting the result as fast as possible, so it should last as long as possibleshort.

For whom:Therapy can help the patient to deal with his own past, focus on achievements and successes. In this way, it helps to regain the lost meaning of life.

  • NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)

Assumptions:According to the principle that the source of strength is the subconsciousness, therapy shows the patient a different view of past events. What was a failure and is not worth remembering should be erased from memory. Above all, successes and achievements should be remembered.

How long does it take:Therapy is usually short-term.

For whom:NLP therapy works well as a method of self-promotion and self-motivation. It helps to increase the effectiveness of activities. It is used, for example, to increase the efficiency of work, facilitate the achievement of professional (the art of negotiation) and private (seduction school) success.

Individual psychotherapy

Psychotherapy can also be divided in terms of the number of people participating in it. Individual psychotherapy is based on direct contact between the therapist and the patient. They build a common space within which they move during therapy.

At the beginning, the therapist and the patient agree on the so-called contract. It determines the frequency and duration of psychotherapy, the principles of its conduct and possibilities. The greatest advantage of individual psychotherapy is focusing on a specific problem of one person. There is no place for side threads here, for the therapist the most important thing is the one patient to whom he or she devotes his time. The therapist knows well thoughts and emotions, knows what to expect from his patient's reaction, and at the same time the atmosphere of intimacy is conducive to opening up and building trust.

Group psychotherapy

Group psychotherapy is a series of meetings between the therapist and a group of people who share a similar problem. It is based on the relationships between them. This form of psychotherapy is not for everyone. It takes courage to talk openly about your problems in front of others. Moreover, patients may feel that the therapist is not fully involved in their treatment because he has to divide his attention between several people.

Many therapists, however, mention numerous advantages of this type of meeting, including easier to accept your problem compared to the group, strengthen self-confidence, sense of community, rebuild your own self-esteem, additional support for the group, get out of loneliness.

Participants of group therapy have it easier, because they can use solutions proposed by other participants, and the group's reactions to individual problems can make a greater impression onindividual people. The added value is that the members of the group not only get support from others, but can also give this support themselves, which gives them the feeling of being needed.

In group psychotherapy, participants are selected on the basis of shared experiences. The size of the group depends on the problems with which the patients come. For example, for anxiety disorders, groups should only be a few people. We can distinguish the so-called closed groups, where the number of participants is constant throughout the therapy, and open groups, where new people can join during the therapy.

Important! Each psychotherapist is a member of the psychotherapeutic society. It is this body that can be referred to if the way of work of the psychotherapist we deal with seems to us inconsistent with the ethics of the profession.

Marital (couples) psychotherapy

Among the types of psychotherapy we also distinguish a form of marital therapy. Usually it is needed when there is a crisis in the relationship (not necessarily in marriage) that the people cannot cope with. You can also go to this therapy when you want to improve relationships in your relationship, improve communication with yourself.

The condition of participation in marital therapy is the mutual consent of the partners. Couples psychotherapy involves meetings of partners with a therapist. Therapeutic sessions last longer than in the case of individual therapy, their frequency is determined by the therapist. If the partners are in conflict, it is most important that the therapist does not take sides. The intention is not to change one partner, but to understand each other's needs and expectations.

Family psychotherapy

Another form of psychotherapy is family psychotherapy. It is attended by people from the family who have a problem. Family psychotherapy is most often chosen by parents of children who cause educational difficulties, but also families in which, for example, a severe or difficult disease occurs.

Therapeutic sessions should be attended by people who are to some extent affected by a given problem. The goal of therapy is to strengthen the bond between these people and learn to live and cope with a given problem. The therapy is to strengthen the family, teach it to alleviate conflicts and support each other in difficult moments.

Effectiveness of psychotherapy

The effectiveness of psychotherapy depends on many factors, including from:

  • appropriate selection of the type of therapy to the problem,
  • trust and good relationship between the therapist and the patient,
  • choosing the right therapist,
  • patient's commitment and motivation.

The effectiveness of psychotherapy has been repeatedly proven by research. In this regard, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is the most studied.

The effects of the therapy are visible at different times - depending on the type of therapy, frequency and duration. In the case of short-term therapy, we will see the effect faster than in the case of long-term psychotherapy. The current measure of the effectiveness of psychotherapy is 0.8. This means that a person who has completed psychotherapy is he althier than 80% of patients waiting for treatment.

The effectiveness of psychotherapy is rather permanent. However, addiction treatment therapies are governed by their rules - here the return to addiction is frequent. It is also worth adding that psychotherapy is sometimes more effective than pharmacological treatment, which mainly drowns out the problem and not heals it. After the therapy, there are twice as many relapses as after pharmacological treatment.

The expected result of psychotherapy is the improvement of the patient's quality of life in terms of satisfaction. The effects of successful psychotherapy are easy to recognize. They are seen by the patient who ceases to suffer spiritually and is seen by his relatives and the environment with whom he has improved his relationship.

What should a psychotherapist be like?

In psychotherapy, the relationship between the patient and the therapist is the most important. Trust and understanding are the basis for this type of treatment. A good therapist must be a sympathetic support to the patient, he should respect him, be open, honest, patient, authentic and empathetic. Only these features can make the patient engaged in therapy, motivated and will sincerely desire change.

The therapist does not provide ready-made solutions, does not suggest them. Instead, he guides his patient on the right path, shows him the possibilities that they can take advantage of, and discovers their potential. So we cannot expect the therapist to give advice and make decisions for us. You have to do the biggest work yourself. The success of therapy is the right action, taking an independent and good decision and consistent implementation of assumptions.

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Psychology