Types of Therapy

The ultimate goal of therapy is to allow the client and therapy provider work together in a trusting, non judgmental environment towards a specific, agreed on set of goals. In order to reach this goal, there are a few different types of therapy that may be used. They consist of psychoanalytic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and group therapy.

Psychoanalytic therapy:

The most well known treatment is psychoanalytic therapy, which was founded by Sigmund Freud. This method is often referred to as “talk therapy” because the client spends a lot of time talking about their lives and the therapist spends a lot of time listening. The therapist will look for significant events that have happened in the past that might lead to the current difficulties the client is experiencing. Psychoanalysts believe that unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors play a major role in mental illness. The benefits of psychoanalysis are that the therapist is nonjudgmental and empathetic towards the client, which makes them feel safer in revealing private feelings. At times, just sharing what is bothering with you to someone else can be very beneficial.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy:

The practices of cognitive therapists are based on the principle that faulty perceptions or irrational thinking causes mental illness. They focus on a specific problem that the client is experiencing, and they try to change that client’s way of thinking. Usually, this type of therapy is most effective on clients who are suffering from anxiety or depression.

After changing the negative thoughts that a client has, behavioral therapists work on changing the problematic behavior that the client may have had during his or her entire life. An example of this type of therapy is working with a client to overcome their phobia of snakes. The client would be encouraged to face their fear of snakes through experience by possibly going to a pet store and looking at one. In order to get the client to the point of facing their fear, the client must first imagine doing so. This shows a change in thoughts followed by a change in behavior. Another example where cognitive-behavioral therapy would be used is when treating a specific disorder, such as social anxiety. The client would be encouraged to change their thoughts about being around large groups of people and then actually trying the behavior.

Group Therapy:

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy where one or more therapists work with two or more clients. This type of therapy is used for support groups, where group members can share their experiences with one another and offer advice. This method is also more cost effective than the other types. This is beneficial for individuals who may feel alone or isolated from others because of the feelings they may be having. Drug addiction counseling is a good example of group therapy because the addicted people can share common feelings and experiences they may be having. Also, those who have recovered from addiction can give good feedback to the ones who are still struggling.