What is Psychological Therapy?
Psychological therapy, also known as psychotherapy, is a collection of therapies employed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor to treat patients with mental health issues and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy involves a personal interaction with the patient to explore behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that are disturbing a patient mentally and emotionally and provide a suitable treatment to it accordingly. Psychotherapy helps a person to learn how to take control of one’s life and react to challenging circumstances with better coping skills.
Role of Psychological Therapy
Your psychiatrist can help you manage the following mental health issues and life’s stressors and conflicts.
- Mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder or depression
- Anxiety disorders, such as phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia (delusions and hallucinations) and schizoaffective disorder (both schizophrenia and a mood disorder)
- Personality disorders, such as dependent personality disorder or borderline personality disorder
- Eating disorders, such as bulimia or anorexia
- Addictions, such as drug dependence, alcoholism, and compulsive gambling
- Relive stress or anxiety due to family situations or work-life
- Cope with crucial challenges in life, such as losing a loved one to death or divorce
- Learn to cope with unhealthy responses, such as aggressive behavior or road rage
- Mange sexual problems arising out of psychological or physical causes
- Coping with ongoing health problems, such as chronic pain, diabetes, or cancer
- Resolve conflicts with your wife or partner in your life
- Recovery from sexual or physical abuse or witnessing violence
Types of Psychological Therapy
Some of the most effective types of psychological therapy include:
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy: This therapy teaches behavioral skills to help you manage stress, emotions, and enhance your interpersonal skills with others.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This therapy assists you to identify your negative and unhealthy behaviors and beliefs and replace those with positive and healthy ones.
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapy: This therapy assists you to solve conflicts and helps you develop fresh insights into your motivations to address your unconscious behaviors and thoughts.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: This therapy helps to bring forth a commitment in you to make positive changes in your life and enhance your capacity to manage with and adjust to changing situations.
- Supportive Psychotherapy: This therapy helps to strengthen your capacity to cope with difficult circumstances and stress in life.
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy: This therapy assists you to improve your relationships with others such as colleagues, friends, and family by focusing on the problems that are preventing you from accomplishing good interpersonal skills.
Psychological Therapy session
Your therapist will conduct the therapy in an individual, couples, family, or group setting. Therapy sessions may be held once a week for 30 to 50 minutes. A trust should be developed between you and your therapist so that the sessions are productive. You will be provided with homework activities to build up your personality throughout your sessions. You may find it difficult to open up with your feelings in the initial stages, but your therapist should make you feel as comfortable as possible to help you to express your feelings without any hesitance as the session proceeds. Your interaction with your therapist will remain highly confidential and bound by the standards of a doctor-patient relationship. In cases of mental illnesses, psychological therapy is carried out in combination with medicines and therapies for an effective outcome.
Summary
Psychological therapy involves evaluating your behaviors and thoughts in order to identify issues contributing to your abnormal emotional and mental condition and work towards providing a solution to it. Individuals who regularly participate in therapy sessions recover more swiftly, have fewer relapses, and improve their overall personality and sense of well-being.
Other Specialties
