Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a general term that describes psychological treatments designed to help people resolve problems and improve the quality of their lives. Psychotherapy involves a person talking to a thera-pist—psychological professional—about the person's behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal problems.

Psychotherapists employ 400 kinds of therapy for psychological disorders. The primary means of achieving these goals is for a therapist to engage a client in discussions and interactions. The term therapist encompasses a diverse group of people with different backgrounds. Among the most common types of licensed psychotherapists are clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists (or counselors), psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, marriage and family therapists (or family counselors), and social workers. They are also called mental health professionals. In some countries, there are indigenous therapists and therapies that are being investigated by the Western psychologists.

In Western understanding, the treatment of psychological disorders can be divided into two broad categories: biomedical therapies (that uses biological methods of treatment) and psychological therapies (the kind of therapy that involves talking out things with a professional).

Biomedical therapies try to bring symptoms under control by using psychotropic drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychosurgery, which alter the central nervous system's functioning and reduce symptoms.

Anti-depressant drugs are used in the treatment of depression and include monamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic anti-depressants, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Antipsychotic drugs are used to control delusions, hallucinations, and bizarre behavior and include the typical neuroleptics, atypical neuroleptics, and partial dopamine agonists. Antimanic drugs are used to treat bipolar disorder and include lithium and certain anticonvulsant drugs. Antianxiety drugs are used to treat anxiety disorders and include the benzodiazepines and certain anti-depressant drugs.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used to treat severe depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia and involves the use of muscle relaxant, a short-term anesthetic, and relatively mild muscular contractions. The types of psychosurgery are prefrontal lobotomy and cingulotomy.

Psychologically based therapies are the kind of therapy or treatment in which a trained profession-al—a therapist—uses psychological techniques to help someone overcome psychological difficulties and disorders, resolve problems in living, or bring about personal growth. According to the psychotherapeutic treatment, they are divided into four major categories: psychodynamic (or psychoanalytic), humanistic, behavioral, and cognitive. The first two types are insight therapies in which the main goal is helping people to gain insight into their behavior, thoughts, and feelings. The last two are action therapies in which the main goal is to change disordered or inappropriate behavior directly. These approaches are based on the models of personality and psychological disorders developed by European or American psychologists in different countries, in different decades of the 20th century.

Psychologically based therapies are the kind of therapy or treatment in which a trained professional—a therapist—uses psychological techniques to help someone overcome psychological difficulties and disorders, resolve problems in living, or bring about personal growth.

[Page 1447]Psychodynamic therapy is based on the premise, first suggested by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) in his psychoanalytic approach to personality, that the primary sources of abnormal behavior are unresolved past conflicts and the possibility that unacceptable unconscious impulses will enter a person's consciousness. To guard against this anxiety-provoking possibility, individuals employ defense mechanisms, psychological strategies to protect themselves from those unconscious impulses.

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