The treatment of mental and emotional disorders through the use of psychological techniques designed to encourage communication of conflicts and insight into problems, with the goal being relief of symptoms, changes in behavior leading to improved social and vocational functioning, and personality growth. - The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, artwork, drama, narrative story, or therapeutic touch. Psychotherapy occurs within a structured encounter between a trained therapist and client(s). Purposeful, theoretically based psychotherapy began in the 19th century with psychoanalysis; since then, scores of other approaches have been developed and continue to be created.
Benefits of psychotherapy:
The generally accepted aims of psychotherapy are:
• Increased insight or improved understanding of one's own mental state. This can range from simply knowing one's strengths and weaknesses to understanding that symptoms are signs of a mental illness and to deep awareness and acceptance of inner feelings.
• The resolution of disabling conflicts, or working to create a peaceful and positive settlement of emotional struggles that stop a person from living a reasonably happy and productive life.
• Increasing acceptance of self by developing a more realistic and positive appraisal of the person's strengths and abilities.
• Development of improved and more efficient and successful means of dealing with problems so that the patient can find solutions or means of coping with them.
• An overall strengthening of ego structure, or sense of self, so that normal, healthy means of coping with life situations can be called upon and used as needed.
Counseling psychology
Counseling psychology as a psychological specialty facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. Through the integration of theory, research, and practice, and with a sensitivity to multicultural issues, this specialty encompasses a broad range of practices that help people improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to live more highly functioning lives.
Group Therapy
Group therapy is a form of psychosocial treatment where a small group of patients meet regularly to talk, interact, and discuss problems with each other and the group leader (therapist).
Body Psychotherapy
(also known as Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Somatic Psychology) is a branch of Psychotherapy with roots in the pre-Freudian work of Pierre Janet. It addresses itself to both body and mind, and emphasizes the relationship between the two.
Child psychotherapy
There are several different techniques to approach the psychoanalytic treatment of children. If children are at a very young age an adapted psychoanalytic technique maybe necessary. In some cases parent-infant psychotherapy is a possibility. Two techniques will be discussed: Parent-Infant Psychotherapy and Mentaliseren Bevorderende Kinder Therapie (MBKT). Parent-Infant Psychotherapy addresses problems with normal bonding between parent and child. MBKT addresses problems with an infant’s ability to distinguish reality and fantasy.
Positive psychotherapy is a psychodynamic method of psychotherapy founded by Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian in the early 1970s in Germany. It is based on a humanistic conception of man, and has an integral and holistic approach.
Though there are no definitive studies proving that all five of these goals are consistently realized, psychotherapy in one form or other is a component of nearly all of both in-patient and community based psychiatric treatment programs.
This list contains some approaches that may not call themselves a psychotherapy but have a similar aim, of improving mental health and well being through talk and other means of communication.
• Acceptance Commitment Therapy
• Adlerian therapy
• Analytical psychology
• Art Therapy
• Attack therapy
• Autogenic training
• Behavior therapy
• Biodynamic psychotherapy
•Bioenergetic analysis
•Bionomic psychotherapy
•Body Mind Psychotherapy
•Body psychotherapy
•Brief therapy
•Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy
•Client-centered psychotherapy/counselling
•Characteranalytic vegetotherapy
•Co-Counselling
•Cognitive analytic psychotherapy
•Cognitive behavioural psychotherapy
•Coherence therapy
•Concentrative movement therapy
•Contemplative Psychotherapy
•Conversational Model (The)
•Core Energetics
•Core process psychotherapy
•Daseins analytic psychotherapy
•Dance therapy
•Depth Psychology
•Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS)
•Dialectical behavior therapy
•Dreamwork
•Drama therapy
•Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
•Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
•Encounter groups
•Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
•Existential therapy
•Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
•Expressive therapy
•Family Constellations
•Family therapy
•Feminist therapy
•Focusing
•Freudian psychotherapy
•Gestalt therapy
•Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy
•Group Analysis
•Group therapy
•Hakomi
•Holistic psychotherapy
•Holotropic Breathwork
•Humanistic psychology
•Human givens psychotherapy
•Hypnotherapy
•IBP Integrative Body Psychotherapy
•Integrative Psychotherapy
•Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy
•Internal Family Systems Model
•Interpersonal therapy
•Jungian psychotherapy
•Lifespan Integration
•Logotherapy
•Marriage counseling
•Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behaviour
•Method of Levels (MOL)
•Morita Therapy
•The Moving Cycle
•Multicultural Counseling and Therapy (MCT)
•Multimodal Therapy
•Music therapy
•Narrative Therapy
•Neuro Emotional Technique (NET)
•Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
•Nonviolent Communication
•Object relations theory
•Orgonomy
•Pastoral counselling/therapy
•Personal construct psychology (PCP)
•Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP)
•Play therapy
•Positive Psychology
•Positive psychotherapy
•Postural Integration
•Primal integration
•Primal therapy
•Process Oriented Psychology
•Provocative Therapy
•Psychedelic psychotherapy
•Psychoanaltic psychotherapy
•Psychoanalysis
•Psychodrama
•Psychodynamic psychotherapy
•Psychological astrology
•Psycho-organic analysis
•Psychosynthesis
•Psychosystems Analysis
•Pulsing (bodywork)
•Radix therapy
•Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
•Rational Living Therapy (RLT)
•Rebirthing-Breathwork
•Re-evaluation Counseling
•Relational-Cultural Therapy
•Relationship counseling
•Reprogramming
•Reality therapy
•Reichian psychotherapy
•Person-centred (or Rogerian) psychotherapy
•Rolfing
•Rubenfeld Synergy
•Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
•Social Therapy
•Solution focused brief therapy
•Somatic Psychology
•Sophia analysis
•Self Relationship (or Sponsorship)
•Systematic desensitization
•Systemic Constellations
•Systemic Therapy
•SHEN Therapy
•T Groups
•Thought Field Therapy
•Transactional Analysis (TA)
•Transactional Psychotherapy (TP)
•Transpersonal psychology
•Twelve-step programs
•Unitive Psychotherapy
•Vegetotherapy
The treatment of mental and emotional disorders through the use of psychological techniques designed to encourage communication of conflicts and insight into problems, with the goal being relief of symptoms, changes in behavior leading to improved social and vocational functioning, and personality growth. - The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, artwork, drama, narrative story, or therapeutic touch. Psychotherapy occurs within a structured encounter between a trained therapist and client(s). Purposeful, theoretically based psychotherapy began in the 19th century with psychoanalysis; since then, scores of other approaches have been developed and continue to be created.
Benefits of psychotherapy:
The generally accepted aims of psychotherapy are:
• Increased insight or improved understanding of one's own mental state. This can range from simply knowing one's strengths and weaknesses to understanding that symptoms are signs of a mental illness and to deep awareness and acceptance of inner feelings.
• The resolution of disabling conflicts, or working to create a peaceful and positive settlement of emotional struggles that stop a person from living a reasonably happy and productive life.
• Increasing acceptance of self by developing a more realistic and positive appraisal of the person's strengths and abilities.
• Development of improved and more efficient and successful means of dealing with problems so that the patient can find solutions or means of coping with them.
• An overall strengthening of ego structure, or sense of self, so that normal, healthy means of coping with life situations can be called upon and used as needed.
Counseling psychology
Counseling psychology as a psychological specialty facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. Through the integration of theory, research, and practice, and with a sensitivity to multicultural issues, this specialty encompasses a broad range of practices that help people improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to live more highly functioning lives.
Group Therapy
Group therapy is a form of psychosocial treatment where a small group of patients meet regularly to talk, interact, and discuss problems with each other and the group leader (therapist).
Body Psychotherapy
(also known as Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Somatic Psychology) is a branch of Psychotherapy with roots in the pre-Freudian work of Pierre Janet. It addresses itself to both body and mind, and emphasizes the relationship between the two.
Child psychotherapy
There are several different techniques to approach the psychoanalytic treatment of children. If children are at a very young age an adapted psychoanalytic technique maybe necessary. In some cases parent-infant psychotherapy is a possibility. Two techniques will be discussed: Parent-Infant Psychotherapy and Mentaliseren Bevorderende Kinder Therapie (MBKT). Parent-Infant Psychotherapy addresses problems with normal bonding between parent and child. MBKT addresses problems with an infant’s ability to distinguish reality and fantasy.
Positive psychotherapy is a psychodynamic method of psychotherapy founded by Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian in the early 1970s in Germany. It is based on a humanistic conception of man, and has an integral and holistic approach.
Though there are no definitive studies proving that all five of these goals are consistently realized, psychotherapy in one form or other is a component of nearly all of both in-patient and community based psychiatric treatment programs.
This list contains some approaches that may not call themselves a psychotherapy but have a similar aim, of improving mental health and well being through talk and other means of communication.
• Acceptance Commitment Therapy
• Adlerian therapy
• Analytical psychology
• Art Therapy
• Attack therapy
• Autogenic training
• Behavior therapy
• Biodynamic psychotherapy
•Bioenergetic analysis
•Bionomic psychotherapy
•Body Mind Psychotherapy
•Body psychotherapy
•Brief therapy
•Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy
•Client-centered psychotherapy/counselling
•Characteranalytic vegetotherapy
•Co-Counselling
•Cognitive analytic psychotherapy
•Cognitive behavioural psychotherapy
•Coherence therapy
•Concentrative movement therapy
•Contemplative Psychotherapy
•Conversational Model (The)
•Core Energetics
•Core process psychotherapy
•Daseins analytic psychotherapy
•Dance therapy
•Depth Psychology
•Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS)
•Dialectical behavior therapy
•Dreamwork
•Drama therapy
•Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
•Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
•Encounter groups
•Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
•Existential therapy
•Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
•Expressive therapy
•Family Constellations
•Family therapy
•Feminist therapy
•Focusing
•Freudian psychotherapy
•Gestalt therapy
•Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy
•Group Analysis
•Group therapy
•Hakomi
•Holistic psychotherapy
•Holotropic Breathwork
•Humanistic psychology
•Human givens psychotherapy
•Hypnotherapy
•IBP Integrative Body Psychotherapy
•Integrative Psychotherapy
•Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy
•Internal Family Systems Model
•Interpersonal therapy
•Jungian psychotherapy
•Lifespan Integration
•Logotherapy
•Marriage counseling
•Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behaviour
•Method of Levels (MOL)
•Morita Therapy
•The Moving Cycle
•Multicultural Counseling and Therapy (MCT)
•Multimodal Therapy
•Music therapy
•Narrative Therapy
•Neuro Emotional Technique (NET)
•Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
•Nonviolent Communication
•Object relations theory
•Orgonomy
•Pastoral counselling/therapy
•Personal construct psychology (PCP)
•Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP)
•Play therapy
•Positive Psychology
•Positive psychotherapy
•Postural Integration
•Primal integration
•Primal therapy
•Process Oriented Psychology
•Provocative Therapy
•Psychedelic psychotherapy
•Psychoanaltic psychotherapy
•Psychoanalysis
•Psychodrama
•Psychodynamic psychotherapy
•Psychological astrology
•Psycho-organic analysis
•Psychosynthesis
•Psychosystems Analysis
•Pulsing (bodywork)
•Radix therapy
•Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
•Rational Living Therapy (RLT)
•Rebirthing-Breathwork
•Re-evaluation Counseling
•Relational-Cultural Therapy
•Relationship counseling
•Reprogramming
•Reality therapy
•Reichian psychotherapy
•Person-centred (or Rogerian) psychotherapy
•Rolfing
•Rubenfeld Synergy
•Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
•Social Therapy
•Solution focused brief therapy
•Somatic Psychology
•Sophia analysis
•Self Relationship (or Sponsorship)
•Systematic desensitization
•Systemic Constellations
•Systemic Therapy
•SHEN Therapy
•T Groups
•Thought Field Therapy
•Transactional Analysis (TA)
•Transactional Psychotherapy (TP)
•Transpersonal psychology
•Twelve-step programs
•Unitive Psychotherapy
•Vegetotherapy