| >>Note: Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. This usually includes increasing individual sense of well-being and reducing subjective discomforting experience. Psychotherapists employ a range of techniques based on experiential relationship building, dialogue, communication and behavior change and that are designed to improve the mental health of a client or patient, or to improve group relationships (such as in a family). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy] |
| | >>Note: Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, artwork, drama, narrative story, or therapeutic touch. Psychotherapy occurs within a structured encounter between a trained therapist and client(s). Purposeful, theoretically based psychotherapy began in the 19th century with psychoanalysis; since then, scores of other approaches have been developed and continue to be created. Therapy is generally used to respond to a variety of specific or non-specific manifestations of clinically diagnosable crises. Treatment of everyday problems is more often referred to as counseling (a distinction originally adopted by Carl Rogers) but the term is sometimes used interchangeably with "psychotherapy". Psychotherapeutic interventions are often designed to treat the patient in the medical model, although not all psychotherapeutic approaches follow the model of "illness/cure". Some practitioners, such as humanistic schools, see themselves in an educational or helper role. Because sensitive topics are often discussed during psychotherapy, therapists are expected, and usually legally bound, to respect client or patient confidentiality. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Forms] |
| | >>Note: Sometimes called "strategic" therapy, solution focused brief therapy. |
| | >>Note: Including family therapy & marriage counseling. |
| | Integrative Psychotherapy |
| | >>Note: Psychotherapy can be seen as an interpersonal invitation offered by (often trained and regulated) psychotherapists to aid clients in reaching their full potential or to cope better with problems of life. Psychotherapists usually receive a benefit or remuneration in some form in return for their time and skills. This is one way in which the relationship can be distinguished from an altruistic offer of assistance. Psychotherapy often includes techniques to increase awareness for example, or to enable other choices of thought, feeling or action; to increase the sense of well-being and to better manage subjective discomfort or distress. Psychotherapy can be provided on a one to one basis or in group therapy. It can occur face to face, over the telephone or the internet. Its time frame may be a matter of weeks or over many years. It can be seen as ultimately about agency and the meaning of life. Psychotherapy can also be seen as a social construct that cannot occur in a power vacuum nor without reference to semiotics (meaning systems and symbols) - irrespective of how practitioners may describe their work or research its effects. Therapy may address specific forms of diagnosable mental illness, or everyday problems in relationships or meeting personal goals. Treatment of everyday problems is more often referred to as counseling (a distinction originally adopted by Carl Rogers) but the term is sometimes used interchangeably with "psychotherapy". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#General_Concerns] |
| | Specific schools and approaches |
| | Scientific validation of different psychotherapeutic approaches |
| | >>Note: In the psychotherapeutic community there has been discussion of evidence-based psychotherapy, e.g. Virtually no comparisons of different psychotherapies with long follow-up times have been carried out. The Helsinki Psychotherapy Study is a randomized clinical trial, where patients are monitored for 12 months after the onset of study treatments, of which each lasted approximately 6 months. The assessments are to be completed at the baseline examination and during the follow-up after 3, 7, and 9 months and 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 years. The final results of this trial are yet to be published since follow-up evaluations will continue up to 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Scientific_validation_of_different_psychotherapeutic_approaches] |
| | >>Note: Psychoanalysis was the earliest form of psychotherapy, but many other theories and techniques are also now used by psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, personal growth facilitators, occupational therapists and social workers. Techniques for group therapy have been developed. While behaviour is often a target of the work, many approaches value working with feelings and thoughts. This is especially true of the psychodynamic schools of psychotherapy, which today include Jungian therapy and Psychodrama as well as the psychoanalytic schools. Other approaches focus on the link between the mind and body and try to access deeper levels of the psyche through manipulation of the physical body. Examples are Rolfing, Pulsing and postural integration. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Psychoanalysis] |
| | >>Note: Gestalt Therapy is a major overhaul psychoanalysis. In its early development it was called "concentration therapy" by its founders, Frederick and Laura Perls. However, its mix of theoretical influences became most organized around the work of the gestalt psychologists; thus, by the time Gestalt Therapy, Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality (Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman) was written, the approach became known as "Gestalt Therapy." Gestalt Therapy stands on top of essentially four load bearing theoretical walls: phenomenological method, dialogical relationship, field-theoretical strategies, and experimental freedom. Some have considered it an existential phenomenology while others have described it as a phenomenological behaviorism. Gestalt therapy is a humanistic, holistic, and experiential approach that does not rely on talking alone, but facilitates awareness in the various contexts of life by moving from talking about situations relatively remote to action and direct, current experience. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Gestalt_Therapy] |
| | >>Note: The therapeutic use of groups in modern clinical practice can be traced to the early years of the 20th century, when the American chest physician Pratt, working in Boston, described forming 'classes' of fifteen to twenty patients with tuberculosis who had been rejected for sanatorium treatment. The term 'group therapy', however, was first used around 1920 by Jacob L. Moreno, whose main contribution was the development of psychodrama, in which groups were used as both cast and audience for the exploration of individual problems by reenactment under the direction of the leader. The more analytic and exploratory use of groups in both hospital and out-patient settings was pioneered by a few European psychoanalysts who emigrated to the USA, such as Paul Schilder, who treated severely neurotic and mildly psychotic out-patients in small groups at Bellevue Hospital, New York. The power of groups was most influentially demonstrated in Britain during the Second World War, when several psychoanalysts and psychiatrists proved the value of group methods for officer selection in the War Office Selection Boards. A chance to run an Army psychiatric unit on group lines was then given to several of these pioneers, notably Wilfred Bion and Rickman, followed by S. H. Foulkes, Main, and Bridger. The Northfield Hospital in Birmingham gave its name to what came to be called the two 'Northfield Experiments', which provided the impetus for the development since the war of both social therapy, that is, the therapeutic community movement, and the use of small groups for the treatment of neurotic and personality disorders. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Group_Psychotherapy] |
| | Medical and non-medical models |
| | >>Note: A distinction can also be made between those psychotherapies that employ a medical model and those that employ a humanistic model. In the medical model the client is seen as unwell and the therapist employs their skill to help the client back to health. The extensive use of the DSM-IV, the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders in the United States, is an example of a medically-exclusive model. In the humanistic model, the therapist facilitates learning in the individual and the client's own natural process draws them to a fuller understanding of themselves. An example would be gestalt therapy. Some psychodynamic practitioners distinguish between more uncovering and more supportive psychotherapy. Uncovering psychotherapy emphasizes facilitating the client's insight into the roots of their difficulties. The best-known example of an uncovering psychotherapy is classical psychoanalysis. Supportive psychotherapy by contrast stresses strengthening the client's defenses and often providing encouragement and advice. Depending on the client's personality, a more supportive or more uncovering approach may be optimal. Most psychotherapists use a combination of uncovering and supportive approaches. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Medical_and_non-medical_models] |
| | >>Note: Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on modifying everyday thoughts and behaviors, with the aim of positively influencing emotions. The therapist helps clients recognise distorted thinking and learn to replace unhealthy thoughts with more realistic substitute ideas. This approach includes Dialectical behavior therapy. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Cognitive_therapy] |
| | >>Note: Expressive therapy is a form of therapy that utilizes artistic expression as its core means of treating clients. Expressive therapists use the different disciplines of the creative arts as therapeutic interventions. This includes the modalities dance therapy, drama therapy, art therapy, music therapy, writing therapy, among others. Expressive therapists believe that often the most effective way of treating a client is through the expression of imagination in a creative work and integrating and processing what issues are raised in the act. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Expressive_therapy] |
| | Integrative Psychotherapy |
| | >>Note: Integrative Psychotherapy represents an attempt to combine ideas and strategies from more than one theoretical approach. These approaches include mixing core beliefs and combining proven techniques. Forms of integrative psychotherapy include Multimodal Therapy, the Transtheoretical Model, Cyclical Psychodynamics, Systematic Treatment Selection, Cognitive Analytic Therapy, Internal Family Systems Model, and Multitheoretical Psychotherapy. In practice, most experienced psychotherapists develop their own integrative approach over time. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Integrative_Psychotherapy] |
| | >>Note: Counseling and psychotherapy must be adapted to meet the developmental needs of children. Many counseling preparation programs include a courses in human development. Since children often do not have the ability to articulate thoughts and feelings, counselors will use a variety of media such as crayons, paint, clay, puppets, bibliocounseling (books), toys, et cetera. The use of play therapy is often rooted in psychodynamic theory, but other approaches such as Solution Focused Brief Counseling may also employ the use of play in counseling. In many cases the counselor may prefer to work with the care taker of the child, especially if the child is younger than age four. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#Adaptations_for_children] |
| | The therapeutic relationship |
| | >>Note: Research has shown that the quality of the relationship between the therapist and the client has a greater influence on client outcomes than the specific type of psychotherapy used by the therapist (this was first suggested by Saul Rosenzweig in 1936). Accordingly, most contemporary schools of psychotherapy focus on the healing power of the therapeutic relationship. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy#The_therapeutic_relationship] |
| | >>Note: Confidentiality is an integral part of the therapeutic relationship and psychotherapy in general. |
| | Effectiveness and criticism |
| |