Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is the treatment of a client's mental health problems by talking with a psychiatrist, psychologist,
licensed clinical social worker or other mental health provider. During psychotherapy a client learns about their
moods, feelings, thoughts and behaviors and how to better respond to life's challenges.

In practices of experienced psychotherapists, the therapy is typically not of one pure type, but draws aspects
from a number of perspectives and schools
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is based on the theory of sexual repression and traces the unfulfilled infantile libidinal
wishes in the individual's unconscious memories. It remains unsurpassed as a method to discover the
meaning and motivation of behavior, especially the unconscious elements informing thoughts and feelings.

Group psychotherapy

widely accepted psychiatric treatment modality, group psychotherapy uses therapeutic forces within the
group, constructive interactions between members, and interventions of a trained leader to change the
maladaptive behavior, thoughts, and feelings of emotionally distressed individuals. In an era of increasingly
stringent financial constraints, decreasing emphasis on individual psychotherapies, and expanding use of
psychopharmacological approaches, more patients have been treated with group psychotherapy than with
any other form of verbal therapy.

Family and couple therapy

Family therapy can be defined as any psychotherapeutic endeavor that explicitly focuses on altering the
interactions between or among family members and seeks to improve the functioning of the family as a unit,
or its subsystems, and/or the functioning of individual members of the family. Both family and couple
therapy aim at some change in relational functioning. In most cases, they also aim at some other change,
typically in the functioning of specific individuals in the family.

Dialectical behaviour therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of psychotherapy that was originally developed for chronically
self-injurious patients with borderline personality disorder and parasuicidal behavior. In recent years, its use
has extended to other forms of mental illness. The method is eclectic, drawing on concepts derived from
supportive, cognitive, and behavioral therapies. Some elements can be traced to Franz Alexander's view of
therapy as a corrective emotional experience, and other elements from certain Eastern philosophical schools

Genetic counceling

Genetic counseling is a process that provides information (medical, technical, and probabilistic) to the
patient (and family) at risk for developing a specific disorder. The provision of information occurs in
conjunction with helping them adapt emotionally and psychologically to the diagnosis (or threat of it), thus
facilitating informed decision making. The process aims to minimize distress, to increase one's feeling of
personal control, and to facilitate informed decision making.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback involves the recording and display of small changes in the physiological levels of the feedback
parameter. The display can be visual, such as a big meter or a bar of lights, or auditory. Patients are
instructed to change the levels of the parameter, using the feedback from the display as a guide. Biofeedback
is based on the idea that the autonomic nervous system can come under voluntary control through operant
conditioning. Biofeedback can be used by itself or in combination with relaxation. For example, patients
with urinary incontinence use biofeedback alone to regain control over the pelvic musculature. Biofeedback
is also used in the rehabilitation of neurological disorders. The benefits of biofeedback may be augmented
by the relaxation that patients are trained to facilitate.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy is a short-term, structured therapy that uses active collaboration between patient and
therapist to achieve its therapeutic goals, which are oriented toward current problems and their resolution.
Cognitive therapy is used with depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality
disorders, and somatoform disorders. Therapy is usually conducted on an individual basis, although group
methods are sometimes helpful. A therapist may also prescribe drugs in conjunction with therapy.

Behavior therapy

The term behavior in behavior therapy refers to a person's observable actions and responses. Behavior
therapy involves changing the behavior of patients to reduce dysfunction and to improve quality of life.
Behavior therapy includes a methodology, referred to as behavior analysis, for the strategic selection of
behaviors to change, and a technology to bring about behavior change, such as modifying antecedents or
consequences or giving instructions. Behavior therapy has not only influenced mental health care, but, under
the rubric of behavioral medicine, it has also made inroads into other medical specialties.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis, in contemporary lay thought, is often steeped in mystery and its powers believed to border on
magic. In reality, hypnosis is a powerful means of directing innate capabilities of imagination, imagery, and
attention. During the hypnotic trace, focal attention and imagination are enhanced and simultaneously
peripheral awareness is decreased. This trance may be induced by a hypnotist through formalized induction
procedures, but it can also occur spontaneously. The capacity to be hypnotized and, relatedly, the occurrence
of spontaneous trance states is a trait that varies between individuals, but is relatively stable throughout a
person's life cycle.

Interpersonal therapy

Interpersonal psychotherapy (ITP), a time-limited treatment for major depressive disorder, was developed in
the 1970s, defined in a manual, and tested in randomized clinical trials by Gerald L. Klerman and Myrna
Weissman. ITP was initially formulated as an attempt to represent the current practice of psychotherapy for
depression. It assumes that the development and maintenance of some psychiatric illnesses occur in a social
and interpersonal context and that the onset, response to treatment, and outcomes are influenced by the
interpersonal relations between the patient and significant others. The overall goal of ITP is to reduce or
eliminate psychiatric symptoms by improving the quality of the patient's current interpersonal relations and
social functioning.

Physciatric rehabilitation

Psychiatric rehabilitation denotes a wide range of interventions designed to help people with disabilities
caused by mental illness improve their functioning and quality of life by enabling them to acquire the skills
and supports needed to be successful in usual adult roles and in the environments of their choice. Normative
adult roles include living independently, attending school, working in competitive jobs, relating to family,
having friends, and having intimate relationships. Psychiatric rehabilitation emphasizes independence rather
than reliance on professionals, community integration rather than isolation in segregated settings for persons
with disabilities, and patient preferences rather than professional goals.

Combined psychotherapry and pharmacology

The use of psychotropic drugs in combination with psychotherapy has become widespread. In fact, it has
become the standard
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of care for many patients seen by psychiatrists. In this therapeutic approach, psychotherapy is augmented by
the use of pharmacological agents. It should not be a system in which the therapist meets with the patient on
an occasional or irregular basis to monitor the effects of medication or to make notations on a rating scale to
assess progress or side effects; rather, it should be a system in which both therapies are integrated and
synergistic. In many cases, it has been demonstrated that the results of combined therapy are superior to
either type of therapy used alone. The term pharmacotherapy-oriented psychotherapy is used by some
practitioners to refer to the combined approach. The methods of psychotherapy used can vary immensely
and all can be combined with pharmacotherapy.