Why understand the types of psychotherapy?
The term “psychotherapy” implies a huge number of areas, approaches and methods, starting with individual conversations and ending with games, dances and tests. All techniques help to explore human emotions and find a route to improving life.
Today, many turn to specialists for help or at least think about such a step. However, it is not so easy to choose: some therapists work with couples, and some with families or groups of people, some with children and adolescents, and some with adults, and there are so many directions themselves, that it's easy to get confused. Friends can recommend a good doctor who cured them of depression, but your situation is most likely completely different. The experts themselves most often suggest using only those methods that they practice. And people ask a logical question: what exactly will help me?
Main types and methods of psychotherapy
Art therapy
A unique technique based on treatment through conversational therapy and creativity, the essence of which lies in the hypothesis that creativity is an external expression of internal emotions, the correct reading of which is the main task of an art therapist.
Who will it help:
- the method has no contraindications and is used in work with both adults and children;
- individual patients, couples, families, groups, communities;
- children and adults with speech impairments;
- clients who have difficulty expressing themselves;
- people who have experienced trauma;
- susceptible to childhood fears and somatic disorders;
- patients experiencing communication problems;
- experiencing difficulties in learning and education.
Methods:
Theatrical performances, music, drawing, sculpting, sculpture, any other art.
Client-centered psychotherapy
One of the most popular methods among modern psychotherapists, which is based on the assertion that the patient is able to independently become the best version of himself, identify the causes of his problems and find a solution to eliminate them.
Who will it help:
- people who lack understanding, sympathy, warmth;
- those seeking to explore their thoughts;
- susceptible to neuroses, anxiety and depression;
- those wishing to resolve social and family conflicts;
- in solving child development problems.
Methods:
The therapist, through a confidential dialogue, only accompanies and guides the client, suggests what to pay attention to.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
It is based on the theory that human behavior is a kind of reaction based on past experience. The main task of the psychotherapist is to help the client change their behavioral responses to stressful events.
Who will it help:
- those suffering from obsessive and compulsive disorders;
- susceptible to fears, phobias and addictions;
- those who want to overcome bad habits;
- those in a state of chronic stress;
- experiencing anxiety and worry.
Methods:
The therapist and patient explore together in what situations negative thoughts automatically arise. Through methods of softening rigid beliefs and special exercises, new skills are reinforced, and gradually the patient learns to live with more flexible views.
Body therapy
This is a set of methods that helps to deal with the client’s psychological resistance as delicately as possible for quick access to his unconscious. As a result, the psychotherapist gets the opportunity to analyze the relationship between the human mind and body and achieve the ultimate goal - a change in psycho-emotional well-being in a positive direction.
Who will it help:
- those suffering from psychosomatic diseases;
- for depression, stress and anxiety;
- to improve overall health;
- people with bad habits;
- susceptible to panic attacks.
Psychoanalysis
The founder of this popular teaching, Sigmund Freud, based psychoanalysis on the task of recognizing the patient’s unconscious processes (through the analysis of words, thoughts, dreams and fantasies), discovering true internal problems and building new relationships with the outside world.
Who will it help:
- those who want to answer their internal questions and build positive relationships with others;
- for various neurotic conditions;
- people with low self-esteem.
Methods:
The session goes like this: the patient lies down on the couch, tries to relax as much as possible and tells out loud everything that comes to his mind. The main method of psychoanalysis is free, flexible associations, which give the therapist access to the patient's subconscious.
Desensitization and reprocessing using eye movements
A method of working with the patient’s traumatic and negative memories.
Who will it help:
- people who are unsure of themselves;
- for post-traumatic stress disorder;
- to get rid of the consequences of emotional trauma;
- patients with low self-esteem;
- with obsessive thoughts, resentments, feelings of guilt.
Methods:
During the session, the psychotherapist asks the client to imagine past negative situations and at the same time moves a finger or pointer in front of the face, triggering the mechanism for processing information using specific eye movements. After this method, the memory of the painful events that occurred is preserved, but the person no longer perceives what happened acutely.
Dance movement therapy
One of the most dynamic and expressive forms of psychotherapy, based on the relationship between body and mind. Movement to music promotes self-expression, improves emotional state and appearance, and forms a positive image of oneself, so patients enjoy dancing. Psychotherapists include dance movement therapy in their rehabilitation programs, because this method has virtually no contraindications and is suitable for children and adults.
Who will it help:
- people of any gender and age who want to improve self-esteem, motor and coordination functions;
- those seeking to work through emotional tensions;
- susceptible to depression;
- suffering from emotional disorders and interpersonal communication disorders.
Family therapy
Family counseling is a field of psychotherapy that focuses on family problems, helping all family members (including children) cope with conflicts, establish mutual understanding and harmonious interaction with each other through the right decisions and new behavior.
Who will it help:
- families wishing to regulate parent-child and marital relationships;
- families with a problematic, disobedient child;
- any family member with a neurotic or psychosomatic disorder;
- people who are grieving the loss of a family member.
Methods:
The specialist talks with the entire family and with each member individually. The counseling process uses tests, drawings, games and homework to create new relationships and behaviors that will satisfy all family members.
Gestalt therapy
A method of psychotherapy based on the belief that people strive for mental and physical health, but patterned behavior creates obstacles to this. Gestalt therapy, with the help of special exercises, helps a person work through unlived feelings and unfinished stories, teaches them to live “right now,” activating responsibility for their behavior, cravings and the ability to live a full life. Gestalt therapy is an effective approach to working with children and adolescents.
Who will it help:
- those striving for a fulfilling life;
- with a tendency to suppress feelings and desires;
- people who have difficulty communicating;
- for fears, anxieties, apathy, bad mood;
- those who want to deal with their past;
- patients experiencing severe anxiety in unfamiliar company;
- with uncontrolled aggression.
Methods:
Individual or group consultations, during which methods of independent choice of behavior are mastered. At the first conversation, the psychotherapist and client(s) agree on the desired result and discuss ways to achieve it, plan the duration and number of meetings.
Hypnosis
Hypnotherapy puts the patient into a deep state of relaxation and altered state in which the unconscious mind is able to unimpededly perceive new possibilities, thoughts and behavior patterns.
Who will it help:
- when solving a specific problem;
- those who want to change behavior or attitude towards an acute situation;
- for the treatment of pain;
- for stress, anxiety and worry;
- those seeking to get rid of bad habits;
- people who want to develop.
Methods:
The psychotherapist uses special metaphorical language during a conversation to touch upon the patient's unconscious.
Jungian analysis
Jung's analytical tactics are based on the analysis of personality archetypes and dreams and are able to expand the patient's consciousness in order to build new values and achieve emotional harmony.
Who will it help:
- in achieving harmony and integrity of the individual;
- in solving family and interpersonal problems;
- people experiencing a crisis situation;
- people striving for a positive perception of the world around them;
- for young children to correct strong and painful experiences;
- to relieve psychological pain and suffering;
- for anxiety disorders, depression and other neurotic conditions.
Methods:
A confidential conversation, during which the client talks about everything that comes to mind - there are no taboo topics. The therapist also invites the client to be creative - to express his feelings and thoughts through drawing, journaling, and poetry. In a word, everything that can help a person understand himself is used.
Psychodrama
An area of psychotherapy that involves the participation of a group of people in a role-playing game in which acute life situations from the real life of one of the participants are played out.
Who will it help:
- those who want to see their emotions from the outside and begin to confront conflicts;
- seeking to learn new effective ways to solve problems.
Methods:
A dramatization of actions based on the plot of real events experienced by one of the participants, during which he and the people in the group are immersed in a stressful situation, “living” it in order to get answers to their questions. The support of group members and a psychotherapist helps to find the right solution in a specific situation.
Translated from Latin, “correction” is translated as “amendment, partial correction or change.” The term “correction of mental development” was first used in defectology as one of the options for psychological and pedagogical assistance to children with developmental problems. It meant a set of pedagogical influences aimed at correcting and compensating for shortcomings and deviations in the mental and physical development of the child.
With the development of practical psychology, the concept of “correction” began to be increasingly used in developmental psychology and clinical psychology not only in relation to children with developmental problems, but also to children with normal mental and physical development.
Currently, psychological correction is widely used in the system of psychological assistance to children and adolescents. Given the wide range of applications of the concept of psychological correction, there is much disagreement regarding its use. For example, some authors consider psychological correction as a way to prevent neuropsychic disorders in children [Spivakovskaya, 1988]. Other authors see it as a method of psychological influence aimed at creating optimal opportunities and conditions for the development of a child’s personal and intellectual potential [Burmenskaya, Karabanova, Lidere, 1990] or a set of psychological techniques used by a psychologist to correct the personal properties or behavior of a mentally healthy person [Osipova, 2000]. In pathopsychology and special psychology, the term “psychocorrection” is used to designate one of the methods of psychological influence aimed at correcting deviations in the mental development of a child.
Often the concept of “psychological correction” is replaced by the concept of “psychotherapy”. Psychotherapy (from the Greek psyche - soul and therapeia - care) is a system of specially organized methods of therapeutic intervention. Psychocorrection, as is clear from this term, is aimed at correcting certain disorders. However, differences in the understanding of the essence of psychocorrection and psychotherapy arose not in accordance with the specifics of their impact on the individual, but in connection with the opinion rooted in our country that psychotherapy can only be carried out by specialists with a special medical education, and psychocorrection - by psychologists. It should be emphasized that the term “psychotherapy” is international and in many countries of the world is clearly used in relation to the methods of work carried out by a psychologist.
We can consider both psychocorrection and psychotherapy as a method of psychological influence. A number of authors see differences between psychotherapy and psychocorrection in the areas of their application. If psychotherapy is mainly used in the clinic of neuroses and psychosomatic diseases, then psychocorrection is widely used in psychiatric clinics [Kritskaya, Meleshko, Polyakov, 1991]. Other authors emphasize the wide scope of application of psychocorrection both in solving therapeutic psychotherapeutic problems themselves, and for the purpose of hygiene and prevention [Zashchepitsky, 1983; Isurina, 1983]. “The more important psychological and socio-psychological factors are in the development of one or another type of disorder,” writes G.L. Isurina, “the greater the importance of the method of psychological correction” [Isurina G 1983, p. 250].
A. A. Osipova [2000] identifies specific features of psychological correction: focus on clinically healthy people; focus on healthy aspects of personality; focus on medium-term assistance; focus on behavior change and personality development. In our opinion, we cannot agree with the author that the object of psychological correction, in contrast to psychotherapy, can only be clinically healthy individuals.
The object of psychocorrectional influences can be both healthy and sick people. Therefore, it is necessary to differentiate between psychological correction of normal development and correction of abnormal development aggravated by the negative influence of biological factors.
The main goal of psychological correction of normal childhood is to promote the full mental and personal development of the child.
Each form of abnormal development has its own specific goals, objectives and methods of correction, which are carried out by clinical psychologists, patho- and neuropsychologists. For example, in case of mental illnesses in children (early childhood autism syndrome, schizophrenia, etc.), psychological correction is aimed at emotional stimulation of the child, the development of his communicative functions, and the formation of social activation. In case of somatic diseases in children, the main task is to correct self-esteem, develop more adequate and flexible forms of reactions to the disease, improve self-regulation, and restore the child’s communication skills. In children with mental retardation, depending on the form of the delay, correctional work is aimed at stimulating their cognitive activity, developing the orienting basis of activity, control, and optimizing mnestic and intellectual functions.
In the process of psychological correction of abnormal development, it is necessary to take into account the complex structure of the child’s developmental characteristics, the nature of the combination in the picture of his condition of such factors as the social situation of development, the severity of personality changes associated with the disease.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
psychologist consultation for children, adolescents, adults
What type of psychotherapy should I choose?
We talked only about the basic therapeutic techniques, of which there are a great many in the practice of existing correctional specialists.
Let us answer right away that there is no ideal type of psychotherapy that would be better and more effective than all others. The choice should depend on the patient’s personality, his behavior, views and beliefs, on the specific problem and on the sincere desire to solve it.
Study your goals, consult with a specialist, listen to your inner feelings. Perhaps some method will respond specifically to you, and you will enthusiastically want to try its action.
It will be important to fully understand your goals and their compliance with the capabilities of existing methods of psychotherapy. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy examines how a person's thoughts influence behavior; the client-centered method helps you independently understand your problems; the existential approach answers the main questions of life, etc.
Methods of psychological personality correction
COMPETENCIES OF A PSYCHOLOGIST
Know
Psychocorrection methods when using various personality theories in work. Have a sufficient supply of knowledge and skills to carry out corrective measures.
Be able to
Plan personal growth; provide a solution to the problem of professional growth; navigate correctional psychotechnics. Use techniques, methods and means of psychological correction.
Own
Variable methods of psychological correction; methods of individual and group psychocorrection.
BASIC CONCEPTS:
Methods and techniques of psychological correction Methods of body-oriented psychotherapy
A method is understood as a way of organizing activities aimed at achieving a specific goal. Methods are a set of principles, techniques and means used by a psychologist when carrying out correctional work. The method determines the general principle of activity, the methodology is the specific embodiment of this principle in the form of specific procedures and psychotechniques related to a specific method of psychological work based on specific methodological material.
Personal behavior is determined by two functional interrelated aspects: regulatory and incentive. Regulation of behavior is carried out through various mental manifestations, such as sensations and perceptions, attention, thinking, memory, speech, emotions, etc. This ensures flexibility and stability of behavior in various conditions. However, the behavior did not arise on its own, but due to some reasons, motivations for it. The description of the mechanisms of activity and direction of behavior is traditionally associated with the concept of motivation. More broadly, it is understood as the entire set of factors that cause the activity of the body and determine the direction of human behavior. This includes such entities as needs, motives, intentions, goals, interests, aspirations. The most important of all motivational concepts are the concepts of “need,” “motive,” and “goal.”
Needs, motives and goals are the main components of a person’s motivational sphere.
Each of the needs can be realized in many motives, and each motive can be satisfied by a different set of goals. The direction of psychological correction includes the motivational-need sphere of the individual. Personality
is a psychological new formation that is formed in the life relationships of an individual as a result of the transformation of his activities.
Need
is a reflection in the form of experiencing the individual’s need to support the body and develop the individual.
In humans, need as a state of personality is always associated with a feeling of dissatisfaction, which guides current behavior. Motive is
an impulse to commit a behavioral act, generated by a system of human needs with varying degrees of awareness or unconsciousness. With the same need, a person’s motives can be a variety of objects. Hence the concept of “motive”, as a stable personal property, which, as if from within, encourages a person to perform certain actions in order to acquire the desired item of need. People as individuals differ from each other in their diversity and special combinations of needs, which in humans manifest themselves in a variety of motives. Most of them are conscious, but there are also unconscious motives - attitudes and drives. Consciousness, as the highest level of a person’s reflection of reality, is a personal formation that allows a person to separate the subjective picture of the objective world that opens to him from this world itself and feel it as a part of himself. One of the components of consciousness is the special activity of goal setting, which is significant for corrective work with a person in order to form his social ideas. Conscious experiences may have certain difficulties in interpersonal relationships, in choosing a profession, and so on.
Consciousness has a rather complex structure - existential (biodynamic properties and sensory images); reflective (meaning and meaning). The function of consciousness is to formulate the goals of activity in the preliminary mental construction of actions and the anticipation of their results, which ensures the regulation of human behavior and activity. The object of reflection can be a reflection of the world, thinking about it, and ways for a person to regulate his behavior. Emotions are associated with volitional behavior, containing a subjective assessment of the significance of life events for a person, in the form of experience. A personality has its own unique emotional make-up.
Personality correction methods
determined by goals and psychotechnical techniques. A significant goal of personal growth is to restore a better level of functioning of the individual in activities, in interaction with people, taking into account all the abilities of the individual, his capabilities and limitations (related to the disease) and life circumstances. Personality correction methods are intended for any healthy age category, but with various problems: problems of low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, weak will, etc.
The purpose of personality correction is
maintaining or restoring the optimal level of personality manifestations in society (interaction, communication, behavior, etc.). At the same time, a person is able to observe feelings without reacting to them in actions, and use an understanding of one or another method of personal growth.
Duration of correctional classes.
The use of personality correction methods can last from several days to several years.
Psychotechnicians.
Working with defense mechanisms and conflicts with the help of a psychologist or psychotherapist. Discovering alternative possibilities. Assessment of types of behavior that pose a threat to life and health, organic causes of the disease.
Psychotechnics in classical psychoanalysis includes 5 basic techniques: a) the method of free associations, b) dream interpretation, c) interpretation, d) resistance analysis, e) transference analysis.
For example, the free association method involves the generation of involuntary statements that come to mind in a random order, the content of which can reflect any of the client’s experiences. While sitting or lying down, often with eyes closed, the client simply says whatever comes to mind, carefully guided by short statements or remarks from the therapist.
Answers to the psychologist’s questions, freedom to reject the psychologist’s (psychotherapist’s) interpretations. Exploring your fears as you begin personal growth. Explanation of your “passive” behavior. Awareness of your disappointments in working on yourself. Learn to appreciate the safety atmosphere. Learn to work with dreams. Understand your personal reactions in any life situations.
The structure of personality correction includes such components as self-knowledge; self-motivation; self-regulation; self-realization.
A method is a path, a way to achieve the goal of correction. The technique is a means of achieving the goal of correction. Each method of personality correction involves numerous techniques.
What else should you pay attention to when choosing a psychotherapist?
To achieve a result, it is important not only the method that the therapist will use during the consultation process, but also your mutual sympathy and understanding - how carefully the specialist listens, accepts your problems and treats you with respect.
Another important point is the psychotherapist’s awareness of your goals and aspirations. If a specialist knows what you expect from therapy, he will have every opportunity to choose the method that is right for you to cope with your specific problem. Feel free to discuss this point if you feel that some of the proposed techniques are not suitable for you. If after this the doctor continues to insist on using his method, assures that you are resisting and are not interested in recovery, it is better to turn to another specialist.
