One of the methods applied in psychology that has the greatest importance in itself is psychotherapy. This is an essential resource when it comes to improving problem areas related to behavior, thoughts and feelings. These can be unconsciously aroused, in the same way they are the origin of certain motivations and sensations that are identified as negative.

Psychotherapy is based mainly on the exploration of the patient’s state from the interaction in the relationship with the therapist. The creation of this link allows identifying and making some first formulations, later this perspective is broadened to continue investigating and confirming that it is what should be addressed with priority.

Patients feel free to talk about their thoughts and feelings , the therapist is trained to understand and support. Maintaining a neutral posture and carrying out an objective analysis, it is possible to create associations between those elements considered as the origin with certain consequences. Eventually certain issues will be easier for the patient to address and will effectively communicate the panic, anxiety, or depression they are experiencing.

What is psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a type of intensive psychological treatment characterized by the interaction between the patient and the treating physician. During this process, it is possible to identify negative emotions and behaviors that are generally unconscious. This is a treatment that eventually helps patients identify thought patterns, emotions, and behaviors that affect their current relationships.

It is a very useful resource to identify those mental elements that are repressed. These same continue to have an important and progressive presence that influences defensive mechanisms and other symptoms used to protect themselves. In themselves they can become limitations that affect the autonomy of the patient in their daily life, so it is important to stop them and prevent their reappearance.

What are their characteristics?

Psychotherapy can be carried out in different ways depending on the approach and the theoretical concepts applied For this reason, there is currently a great variety of psychotherapies, however among them it is observed that they depend to a large extent on the establishment of a communication context. That is, it is necessary for the patient and the treating physician to interact effectively to exchange important information.

The direct and personal contact between both individuals during the consultation is made mainly through dialogue. During this process the therapist will be able to identify, analyze and later modify those mental elements that he has identified as negative.

It is also characterized by the privacy and confidentiality of the professional relationship that is created during these consultations. This relationship will be based on mutual trust, this is very necessary due to the large amount of information that is exchanged.

The 7 types of psychotherapy most practiced 

Psychotherapy is a very important tool for psychologists because it allows combining different types of techniques to modify certain mental aspects. That is, in part the credibility and validity of these therapies depends largely on the ability of the medical professional to interpret and put these methods into practice. In addition, it is very important to highlight the importance of direct interaction between the therapist and the patient, sometimes it is difficult to separate the professional from the technique itself.

This psychological therapy has been modified many times depending on the perspective and also the methodology with which the psychologist or psychiatrist decides to work. Consequently, until now several types of psychotherapies can be identified , each and every one of them has its own characteristics and benefits that achieve good results in the patients who need them most.

Some of the most common and currently applied typologies are described below . It proceeds to describe the process used and the techniques that are integrated into them. They are as follows:

Cognitive therapy 

This is a technique whose objective is to achieve cognitive restructuring. It is usually used in patients who have been identified or psychological disorders characterized by negative thoughts and beliefs. These same elements are often unrealistic and become important limitations for the development and autonomy of the patient.

The medical professional who uses this resource will help the patient to exercise the social and communication skills necessary not only to identify, but also to replace these thoughts. It could be said that positive results are achieved that can be observed in the behavior of the patient and in their way of thinking.

Psychoanalytic therapy

This is a technique initially developed by Sigmund Freud. This important psychoanalyst who is still relevant today proposed this resource with the aim of achieving improvements in psychological problems related to repressed emotions and thoughts. That is, they are ideas or fantasies used to create an inner world in which patients often take refuge.

Currently there is still a large group of therapists who follow this practice. It has been shown that it is a very useful technique to analyze the unconscious of a person , later it will be possible to determine what are the causes that give rise to a certain psychological problem.

Psychodynamic therapy

In this type of therapy it shares characteristics with psychoanalytic therapy, however they have some differences. In this case, interventions are carried out with a short duration, it could be said that it depends on an interaction with less intensity . The goal is to make a less invasive intrusion into the patient’s thinking. Some experts consider that it is basically a readaptation or modification of classical psychoanalysis to update it.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is characterized by making the patient understand his way of thinking and how he related to the world around him. Consequently, by achieving this initial objective later, certain thoughts, actions and behaviors derived from erroneous perceptions can be modified 

This is a very useful resource for those patients who have difficulties in maintaining their autonomy and performance in their personal and professional life. It has been observed that it allows to achieve important achievements, using different types of techniques according to what is selected by the therapist, the quality of life of the patient improves remarkably.

Dialectical behavior therapy

It can be described as a variant of cognitive behavioral therapy. They are usually used to treat multiple diagnoses related to personality, so they become a very useful tool to modify behavior that is difficult to control and treat. For them, different techniques are used that have the focus of improving the social skills and mental behavior of the patient.

To put it into practice, a behavior analysis must be carried out beforehand. In this way it will be possible to choose the most appropriate strategies, one of them is the acceptance strategy that helps the patient to eventually be able to integrate in a better way with the rest of society.

Emotional rational psychotherapy

This is a technique developed by Albert Ellis in order for patients to achieve a deeper change. It can be said that it is a much more intense technique compared to others due to the great emotional level it possesses. In addition, during the process it is observed that patients are able to recognize which are the self-destructive processes that have influenced the development of certain psychological problems.

To be effective, it is important that the therapist manages to tune in with the patient through the use of reason and rationality . For this it is important not only to focus on emotions but also on their causes and consequences. The identification of the emotions to which they are most sensitive is the means used to identify and treat any type of psychological problem.

Gestalt therapy

This type of therapy aims for patients to experience certain situations by re-formulating them in an individual way. Understanding it in another way, it is a technique that helps to experience the same event to give it a completely different meaning.

That this is a very useful technique for those patients who need to analyze and modify certain situations that have significantly affected them. Consequently, those unfortunate events or affective problems of the past will later acquire a totally different meaning; even more positive.

There are a wide variety of types of psychotherapy that continue to be continually modified and created . The need to create new alternatives has been observed because certain mental conditions have acquired a new level of complexity. Here are some of the other types of psychotherapy that have been added to this long list:

  • Brief dynamic psychotherapy or brief strategic therapy
  • Meditation, mindfulness or mindfulness
  • Acceptance and commitment therapy
  • Speech therapy or experiential psychotherapy
  • Systemic family therapy
  • Hypnotic therapy
  • Reminiscence therapy´
  • Focal and integrative psychotherapy
  • Reciprocal inhibition psychotherapy
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Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.

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