Psychotherapy or Talk Therapy offers different types of approaches aimed at providing the best care for mental health concerns. Most professionals may combine aspects of different types of psychotherapy to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of the treatment provided. It may feel overwhelming to understand or corroborate your treatment requirements or plan without knowing the basic types of psychotherapy available. This blog will give you an understanding of the different approaches that psychotherapists/psychologists generally offer, and which one might be the right fit for you and your symptoms.
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Approach: This form of therapy focuses on the impact that unconscious beliefs have on thoughts, mood, and behavior. It addresses the impact that the past has on once life, and how it has an impact on one’s sense of self, functioning and well-being. It has been known to have a positive impact on people having problems with self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-expression.
Behavioral Approach: This type of therapy focuses on the present, and the problematic behavior at hand. It targets learning patterns leading to unhealthy behaviour and helps replace them with healthy practices. The therapist may use several methods, such as conditioning, de-sensitization, or aversion, to do so. This approach is commonly used to address phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance use disorders.
Cognitive Behavioural Approach: The approach emphasizes on the influence that thought, emotions, and behavior have on one another. It aims to address problematic behavior as a result of problematic thought patterns. It helps replace negative and unhealthy thought patterns with healthy ones to bring about change. People dealing with mood disorders, eating disorders, anxiety and its spectrum disorders may find this approach useful.
Dialectic Approach: This approach aims to develop healthy coping skills to address problematic or unhealthy patterns of dealing with emotions and situations. It helps develop emotion regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness to help manage negative emotions and have healthier interpersonal relationships. It is commonly used with people with Borderline Personality Disorder and with people experiencing self-destructive behavior, traumatic experiences, eating disorder, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.
Humanistic Approach: This approach focuses on individual strengths, free will to make rational decisions, and one’s capability to develop themselves and live up to their potential. This approach tends to be less structured than other therapeutic approaches and does not target the ‘treatment’ of problems or symptoms. It can take the form of Client-Centred Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, and Existential Therapy. It can be helpful in dealing with issues regarding self-esteem, relationships, and even anxiety and depressive qualities.
Holistic Approach: It is an integrated approach that aims to address the connection between the mind and the body, and sometimes even spirituality, to enhance well-being. It combines traditional talk therapy with other approaches such as yoga, breathwork, biofeedback, hypnosis, guided imagery, acupuncture and so on. It may take the form of Eclectic Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Mind-Body Therapy, and Spiritual Therapy. It has been found to be useful for people with trauma, anxiety, stress, emotional difficulties, and psychosomatic issues.