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Psychotherapy

Treatment of mental illnesses can take various forms. They can include medication, talk-therapy, a

combination of both, and can last only one session or take many years to complete. Many different types

of treatment are available, but most agree that the core components of psychotherapy remain the same.

Psychotherapy consists of the following:

1. positive, healthy relationship between a client or patient and a trained psychotherapist

!. "ecogni#able mental health issues, whether diagnosable or not

$. greement on the basic goals of treatment

%. &orking together as a team to achieve these goals

&ith these commonalities in mind, this chapter will summari#e the different types of psychotherapy,

including treatment approaches and modalities and will describe the different professionals who perform

psychotherapy.

Types of Psychotherapy

Treatment Approaches.

&hen describing 'talk' therapy or psychotherapy, there are several factors that are common among most

types. (irst and foremost is empathy. )t is a re*uirement for a successful practitioner to be able to

understand his or her client's feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. +econd, being non-udgmental is vital if

the relationship and treatment are going to work. verybody makes mistakes, everybody does stuff they

aren't proud of. )f your therapist udges you, then you don't feel safe talking about similar issues again.

(inally, epertise. The therapist must have eperience with issues similar to yours, be abreast of the

research, and be ade*uately trained.

side from these commonalties, therapists approach clients from slightly different angles, although the

ultimate goal remains the same: to help the client reduce negative symptoms, gain insight into why these

symptoms occurred and work through those issues, and reduce the emergence of the symptoms in the

future. The three main branches include /ognitive, 0ehavioral, and ynamic.

Therapists who lean toward the cognitivebranch will look at dysfunctions and difficulties as arising from

irrational or faulty thinking. )n other words, we perceive the world in a certain way 2which may or may not

be accurate3 and this results in acting and feeling a certain way. Those who follow

more behavioralmodels look at problems as arising from our behaviors which we have learned to

perform over years of reinforcement. The dynamic or psychodynamiccamp stem more from the

teaching of +igmund (reud and look more at issues beginning in early childhood which then motivate usas adults at an unconscious level.

/ognitive approaches appear to work better with most types of depression, and behavioral treatments

tend to work better with phobias. 4ther than these two, no differences in terms of outcome have been

found to eist. Most mental health professionals nowadays are more eclectic in that they study how to

treat people using different approaches. These professionals are sometimes referred to as

integrationists.

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graduate residency. Typically psychologists complete core coursework in therapy, assessment, and

research and are re*uired to pass competency eams and complete a dissertation prior to receiving their

degree.

To be licensed, psychologists must pass a national and state eamination. +ome states grant different

licenses for school, counseling, and clinical psychologists. +chool psychologists usually work in Social

Worker

+ocial workers must hold a bachelors degree in social work although many complete a Master's

program 2two years beyond their bachelor degree3 leading to the Master of +ocial &ork degree. +ocial

workers are often referred to as the liaison between the patient or client and the community.

ccording to the 4ccupational 4utlook 9andbook 21;-13, ike mental health counselors, a Master's degree is typically the minimal re*uirement for marriage and

family therapists. They receive special training in the dynamics of families and relationships and often

treat couples who are having marital or relationship difficulties and families struggling with dysfunctional

interactions. Many marriage and family therapists are provided more general training, allowing them to

perform individual and group therapy as well for a variety of mental health related issues.

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