Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy – ETHOS HEALTH CARE

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is the process of non medicinal intervention by trained therapist (psychotherapist) to treat people suffering from mental illness or psychological disorders of thoughts / feelings / behavior and to help people in improving mental control & functioning for a better life. In short it is the therapy which helps to achieve sound & positive mental health.

There are many methods / techniques which are used by psychotherapists today. (See types of psychotherapies) They have both diagnostic and therapeutic (curative) value. These therapies differ in origin, underlying principle, working methodology, professional training and usefulness in treating disorders.

Psychotherapy is a very specialized treatment which requires substantial amount of skill, effort and energy on part of psychotherapist. In a very short time psychotherapist has to understand the unique mental functioning of the individual patient in context with his or her circumstances of life and has to design a suitable psychotherapy treatment protocol. All this requires in-depth education, training and experience. In addition, the psychotherapist must have himself or herself grown as a human being, must have integrated personality and must have understood the dynamics of mind and dynamics of life.  His treatment must be based on sound theoretical background of psychotherapy and also practical enough to be easily and effectively applicable in patients every day life.

Psychotherapy is not one therapy. It is a broad term used to refer to all such non medicinal therapies which are used to help people in achieving better mental health.  Commonly used psychotherapies are counseling psychotherapy, cognitive behavior psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, gestalt psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, integrative psychotherapy, play psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, narrative psychotherapy, hypnotherapy etc. There are three main aspects of psychotherapy. One is the person who is seeking help for some difficulty, second is the psychotherapist who is qualified and trained to undertake such therapy and thirdly which is the most important is the rapport, the bond or the relationship between the person and the psychotherapist. This relationship is based on trust, confidentiality and mutual regard. This provides the platform on which one can explore one’s deepest difficulties without any fear or inhibition.  Psychotherapist then uses his or her skills to explore solutions and develop better coping skills towards a positive mental health and efficiency.

Psychotherapy helps you to :

• Control and correct involuntary thoughts, feelings and behavior
• Break old and ineffective habitual patterns of thinking and behavior
• Discover creative and effective ways of thinking and behavior
• Find new ways to cope and better coping skills to solve problem
• Unload emotional burden and get “unstuck” from past
• Heal old psychological wounds
• Improve communication skills
• Improve your self esteem self confidence
• Increase your ability to love yourself and love others

Conditions in which Psychotherapy helps 

According to a recent survey for mental illness, approximately 26.2 percent of adults (over 1 in 4) are affected (or likely to be affected) by some type of mental illness.  Here are some of the common mental illnesses that

psychotherapist work with:

• Anxiety disorders like stress, non specific anxiety, health anxiety, social anxiety etc.
• Behavior disorders like uncontrolled anger (IED), impulsive gambling / stealing / pyromania / sex & pornography.
• Childhood disorders like attention deficit disorders (ADHD), autism etc.
• Cognitive disorders like amnesia, delirium, dementia etc.
• Dissociative disorders like depersonalization, identity disorder etc.
• Eating disorder like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating etc.
• Factitious disorders like feigning sickness.
• Mental disorders due to medical condition and sickness
• Mental retardation and poor development, specific or general.
• Mood disorders like depression, mania, bipolar disorder etc.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Panic disorder like cue attacks, situational attacks, spontaneous attacks etc.
• Personality disorders like anti social /avoidant / paranoid personality
• Phobic disorders like phobia of animals, accidents, water, crowded place etc.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Psycho social disorders like isolation, problem with social group or occupation.
• Psychosomatic disorders like psychosomatic pain, conversion disorder, hypochondriasis, body dismorphic disorder etc.
• Schizophrenia with delusions, hallucinations etc
• Sexual & gender identity disorders like exhibitionism, fetishism, disorders of sexual desire / function, painful sex etc.
• Sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep walking, nightmares etc.
• Substance abuse (alcohol/drugs/nicotine) 

Some commonly used Psychotherapies 

• Adlerian Psychotherapy
• Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive Therapy
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Emotional Freedom Therapy
• Existential Therapy
• Gestalt Therapy
• Hypnotherapy
• Integrative Therapy
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Mind Body Therapy
• Neuro Linguistic Program Therapy
• Person Centred Therapy
• Primal Therapy
• Psychoanalysis
• Rational Emotive Therapy
• Spiritual Therapy
• Transactional Analysis
• Expressive therapy
• Narrative therapy
• Emotionally focused therapy 

Benefits of Psychotherapy 

• It decreases mental distress and helps in overcoming mental illness.
• It improves mental calmness, control and functioning.
• It improves job stability and helps in growth.
• It reduces socially unwanted behavior.
• It helps in getting freedom from addictions.
• It decreases dependence on psychiatric medicines.
• It reduces suffering and even treats psychosomatic diseases.
• It decreases discords and improves satisfaction in relationships.
• In addition to patient it improves the atmosphere of patient’s family.  

The Process of Psychotherapy

Apart from professional skills of therapist, psychotherapy (like counseling) works in an atmosphere of privacy, confidentiality, trust, respect and warmth. It is entirely confidential and it is not necessary for the patient to reveal his / her name, address and place of work. The initial sessions are about information gathering which are crucial for correct assessment and which form the basis of direction of psychotherapy. Patient’s can safely reveal his / her mental anguish and thoughts / feeling / behavior howsoever strange they may seem to be. On the basis of assessment the psychotherapy schedule is mutually decided. The schedule is need based and takes into consideration state of sickness, patient’s life and responsibilities and the effect of sickness on patient’s life and life of those related to him / her.  Through the use of different psychological techniques, patient understands his / her sickness, gains mental control & functioning and learns various strategies to keep mental health positive and strong. In terms of benefits and reduced suffering, psychotherapy is a very cost effective treatment option.