Psychotherapy: how therapy with a psychologist can help us
Cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, psychodynamic therapy, ... The specializations of psychology are many and, for those who do not understand, it is not always easy to choose the most suitable professional to treat their disorders. If anxiety is your problem, talking about it with a psychotherapist will help you, however know that there is also a positive anxiety that, if it is transformed into energy, makes us stronger. Com "is it possible to do it? E" explained in the video below.
How psychotherapy works
Psychotherapy is a therapeutic modality which, through the intervention of a psychotherapist, helps the patient to overcome the psychological difficulties he is going through, from the mildest ones such as anxiety, to the debilitating pathological disorders such as psychiatric diseases. The word psychotherapy literally means "care of the" soul "because it aims to heal the inner world of the person through a specific therapy based on interviews, inner analysis, physical and spiritual exercises, confrontation with the therapist (with whom, according to the psychologist American Carl Rogers, there must be no secrets).
There are numerous schools of psychotherapy, which differ according to the type of relationship they establish with the patient and the mode of intervention. It is possible to rely on psychodynamic psychotherapy, on cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, on transactional analytic psychotherapy, on Gestalt psychotherapy, .... Different approaches which, however, have in common the goal of helping people to get better. In general, the psychological disorders that are most beneficial from an analysis path are obsessive compulsive ones, panic attacks, generalized anxiety and emotional blocks.
See also
To choose the psychologist whose therapeutic approach best responds to our problem, it is useful to have a "smattering of the working method of the various psychotherapy schools; once we have decided the type of psychotherapy we want to rely on, we can rely on the" order of psychologists Italians to consult the register: all professionals working in Italy are listed here and it will be possible to contact them to make an appointment.
In addition to the various schools of psychotherapy there are, in fact, also substantial differences between a psychologist and a psychotherapist that it is important to know in order to set the right therapy. First of all, the psychologist is not a doctor, although to practice the profession he must be enrolled in the register of psychologists, and therefore cannot treat patients with psychiatric disorders.
Its activity mainly aims to increase the mental well-being of the person but, if the disorders from which one suffers are disabling enough, its range of intervention can be limited.
The psychotherapist, on the other hand, can practice clinical therapy (including pharmacological therapy) and for this reason, in addition to a degree in psychology or medicine, he must also obtain specific post-graduate training. Within psychotherapy there are many specialized schools, each characterized by its own clinical method. For the treatment of the most serious mental illnesses, however, a psychiatrist usually intervenes, who can prescribe clinical examinations and drug therapies.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
In Italy, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy has become widespread in recent years. This psychotherapeutic specialization aims to help the patient through the breaking of consolidated negative patterns; the subject who goes to therapy is the bearer of inadequate cognitive beliefs and disturbing behaviors. According to this theory, they can be replaced with new schemes more functional to the well-being of the individual.
The school of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy tries to unhinge the mechanisms that lead, for example, to panic attacks, anxiety disorders or phobias, helping the person suffering from it to acquire new skills that will distance them from repeating negative patterns It modifies the aspects of life that cause psychological distress by acting on the mental beliefs underlying the problem.Sessions can, as in other schools of psychotherapy, also take the form of a brief strategic therapy.
The behavioral therapy part helps to transform anxious situations into physiological events, also intervening in the relaxation of the patient. The cognitive approach, on the other hand, aims to recognize and process the mental mechanisms underlying the disorder, in order to significantly improve life. Cognitive analysis therefore uses language to modify negative repetitions. Among the advantages of this school of psychotherapy we find the practicality (the patient faces real situations with a concrete approach) and the brevity of the treatment.
It can be very useful in treating disorders related to anxiety, phobias, stuttering and social fear. Indeed, according to a study developed by Depression Collaborative Research Program, it was found that cognitive behavioral therapy would have the same success rate as psychiatric drugs as treating depression. Psychotherapists interested in cognitive behavioral specialization can complete their training in various locations throughout Italy: the "APC SPC Cognitive Behavioral Institute" operates in Rome, which since 1978 has been involved in training therapists in this field.
The best known psychotherapy schools
Psychotherapy can be based on different approaches even if all the specialization schools have one final goal in common: that of making the patient feel good and freeing him from disorders. The activities are different, as is the psychological path, however the search for the well-being of the person is the same. Here are the main schools of psychotherapy:
- The specialization in Gestalt therapy is a school born in Germany in the early 1900s but which begins to spread in New York in the 1940s. It is a very complex psychological theory that considers man to be closely linked to the surrounding environment. Gestalt (which in German means form) aims to increase the creative faculties of individuals in response to psychological distress and is successfully applied in the context of couple, group or individual therapy.
- Systemic relational psychotherapy, born around the Palo Alto school in the 1950s, considers the individual as part of an ecosystem of relationships from which he cannot escape. The study of relationships with family and friends is the basis of this theory that helps the patient to adapt to the social sphere by communicating his emotions and needs in the best possible way.
It is a practical and pragmatic therapeutic approach (its founders, not surprisingly, are American) which involves a few sessions to complete the treatment. In Europe it began to spread in the 1980s and in Italy it was very successful, in fact the systemic relational school developed above all in Milan with the "Milanese school model".
- Psychodynamic theory believes that at the root of the disorders we suffer from there are thoughts and emotions that we are not aware of. To overcome his problems the person is invited not to repress negative feelings, but to express them in various forms without censorship. It is a therapy that aims to free the man and make him more aware of his desires.
- Functional psychotherapy was born in Naples with the studies of Luciano Rispoli and is characterized by attention not only to mental processes, but also to physical ones. The psychotherapist deals with resolving the disorders of the organism in its entirety, without distinguishing between mental or physical illness. Its effectiveness is proven for the treatment of all-round bodily ailments.
