Psychotherapy: a chance to recover the joy of life

Psychotherapy can be the answer for you! Are you feeling overwhelmed with your tasks, your responsibilities or feelings? You tried to stay positive, but your mind goes around and around in negative thoughts? Alternative therapies aren’t working for you? It might be time to get medical help.

In the modern world, 800 000 people die every eye due to suicide, and the indications are that for each adult who died, 20 others attempted suicide. In many countries, there is a huge stigma about mental diseases and people end up not looking for help.

Either you are looking for help for yourself or someone else, or you just want to learn more about it, this is a serious matter and having information about the possible treatments is essential. Therefore, let’s keep reading and find out more about psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy: a talk therapy

Psychotherapy is one of the treatments used to deal with a variety of mental diseases and emotional challenges. It can be used by itself, in combination with medication or in combination with other therapies. 

Through psychotherapy, the professional will help you first identify your problems and in many cases recognize them. Then by means of several different approaches, the psychologist will help the patient face their issues and work through them, in order to control and treat them. This way, the patient will be able to live a happier, lighter and healthier life.

By the time you finish the treatment with your therapist, you will find out that not only you were able to face your problems and solve them, but also that you were given the tools to face future issues in your life. You will feel stronger and more capable.

Psychotherapy is advised for cases of:

• Challenges coping with daily life;
• Treat the impact of trauma;
• Medical illness;
• Deal with loss;
• Specific mental disorders like anxiety and depression;
• Eating disorders;
• Substance abuse.

The results of psychotherapy?

The research that exists about the outcomes of psychotherapy shows it has effective benefits in 75% of the cases, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

In order for it to work, the patient must be available, to be honest, and open, and also needs to trust the therapist. The therapist must be respectful and follow the ethical rules of the profession.

The treatment can be held only for a few sessions, or by months or even years. It depends especially on the problem that is being treated, and on the patient. 

Results can be summarized in: 

• Improvement of positive emotions;
• Fewer sick days;
• Less medical problems;
• Improvement of behaviors;
• More ability to cope with daily life.

There are also different types of psychotherapy.

Types of Psychotherapy

There are different types of psychotherapy. The techniques and procedures that have been tested and theorized before. While some therapists focus more on working with tasks, others make use of the talk more than anything.

It’s possible, and actually the most common, that the therapist uses procedures and elements of the different styles of psychotherapy. 

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Some people deal with patterns of negative and harmful thoughts, and cognitive-behavioral therapy helps not only identify them but also to replace them with positive thoughts. 

It can be helpful in the treatment of disorders like anxiety, trauma, eating disorders, and depression.

Interpersonal therapy

A shorter form of treatment, it is used to deal with unresolved personal issues, work issues, or relationship problems. It helps in creating a better pattern of expression and communication. 

Dialectical behavior therapy

Used to regulate emotions, it’s specifically used to help people with chronic suicidal thoughts or borderline disorders. In more severe cases, it can be used in eating disorders and PTSD. 

Psychodynamic therapy

The treatments are conducted in the base that the experience from childhood can determine the mental illnesses of an adult. It works in changing old patterns and systems of beliefs. 

Psychoanalysis

It’s probably one of the more known types of psychotherapy. It helps with self-esteem, anxiety, coping mechanisms, social skills. Psychoanalysis is more based on talking than any of the other procedures.

The therapies aren’t, usually, exclusive. That means a person going under a process of any of these processes, can do other types of therapies. Also, good nutrition, physical exercise, and healthy sleep are extremely important. Therefore, more and more, nowadays, people add other practices like yoga. Despite that, it’s important to ask for advice.

If you feel you need some help, overcome any social pressure you feel to “be always productive and fine” and look for professional help. It can give you back the joy of life!

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