Psychotherapies Krystle A McClurg BEH/225 09/11/2015 MELODIE MILLER Psychotherapies Psychotherapy, or “talk therapy”, is a way to treat people with a mental disorder by helping them understand their illness. It teaches people strategies and gives them tools to deal with stress and unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Psychotherapy helps patients manage their symptoms better and function at their best in everyday life. Sometimes psychotherapy alone may be the best treatment for a person, depending on the illness and its severity. Other times, psychotherapy is combined with medications. Therapists work with an individual or families to devise an appropriate treatment plan. (Psychotherapies, n.d.) Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)…show more content…
It has primarily been utilized as a short-term (approximately 16 week) therapy, but has also been modified for use as a maintenance therapy for patients with recurrent depression. (Interpersonal psychotherapy, 2015) Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) treatment is a cognitive-behavioral approach that emphasizes the psychosocial aspects of treatment. Psychotherapy With Individuals Essay The theory behind the approach is that some people are prone to react in a more intense and out-of-the-ordinary manner toward certain emotional situations, primarily those found in romantic, family and friend relationships. DBT theory suggests that some people’s arousal levels in such situations can increase far more quickly than the average person’s, attain a higher level of emotional stimulation, and take a significant amount of time to return to baseline arousal levels.
Wikipedia defines psychotherapy as the “use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior and overcome problems in desired ways”. So put in other words, psychotherapy is an application of theoretical perspectives on psychology in helping people deal with their problems, challenges or disorders.Psychotherapy With Individuals Essay
This is when the rubber meets the road regarding the effectiveness of psychological approaches. By practicing psychotherapy, you have an opportunity to check if a theoretical approach and understanding of human nature according to a particular model actually helps people improve and enhance their lives. In practicing psychotherapy, you can practice from the standpoint of one theoretical model or combine theoretical approaches to create an integrative therapy that is cohesive with your personality. When you draw from a particular model, you do not use only techniques and interventions. Adhering to a specific theory of psychotherapy implies that you base your understanding of human nature, basic human needs, and mechanism of forming of psychological difficulties, on the worldview of this philosophy. For example, if you want to be psychoanalytic, you need to believe that human behavior is primarily motivated by unconscious factors that need to be understood and brought to light. If you want to be an existential counselor, you need to believe that all humans share basic conditions such as choice, self-determination, and freedom and responsibility to give direction to one’s own life.Psychotherapy With Individuals Essay
That’s why at the beginning of your psychotherapy course you get introduced to different theories of psychotherapy to be able to define which one of them is more compatible with your own personality. For this reason, at the beginning of your psychotherapy course, you will most likely get assignments focused on in-depth analysis of one therapeutic system, case studies of disorders with interventions based on the particular therapeutic methods, or research papers contrasting two or more therapeutic approaches in treating specific diseases or dealing with questions such as individual choice, the role of unconsciousness in behavior, the influence of environment and social factors, etc. Some of the most common topics of research papers on psychotherapy focus on analyzing particular models of psychotherapy and the work of their founders.Psychotherapy With Individuals Essay
Topics of psychotherapy research papers and essays by theoretical models
Psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy.
Psychoanalytic therapy. Sigmund Freud. Ericson’s Psychosocial stages of development. Modern trends in psychoanalysis: object-relations theory, self psychology, and relational psychoanalysis. Carl Jung and his contribution to the understanding of the human psyche.
Adlerian therapy. Alfred Alder and Rudolf Dreikurs. The difference of Adlerian therapy from psychoanalysis.
Existential and relationship-oriented therapies.
Existential therapy (Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, Irvin Yalom). Influence of existential philosophy on existential therapists. Role of joining in existential therapy.
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