in memoirs, group, the young law student ranked first in her class, but in her personal life she struggled with an eating disorder, suicidal thoughts and problems in her intimate life. An acquaintance introduced her to a psychotherapist who recommended that she sign up for group therapy sessions.
The author had to open up to other group members in her sessions and share parts of herself that she would rather hide. In turn, she listened as the other members of the group told their own stories and asked questions about the parts of their lives that made the least sense. The author has been conducting group therapy sessions for decades and has credited them with saving her life.
Psychotherapy (also known as talking therapy is an approach that some historians believe goes back to ancient times. In recent decades, scientists have learned to measure the benefits of talking therapy. In some cases, researchers believe that talking therapy is the best.
What is Talk Therapy?
Talk therapy it is when a person meets with a licensed mental health professional to address their concerns. There are various reasons a person might seek help with talk therapy, including stress, coping with trauma, or certain symptoms such as irritability.
Psychotherapists use a variety of techniques, including problem-solving strategies, mindfulness, or behavior tracking. A therapist may use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help a person change their behavior patterns. An example of cognitive behavioral therapy would be confronting fear with exposure therapy.
Does psychotherapy work?
Psychotherapy is effective, and two-thirds of people who took part in talking therapy said their mental health improved. They reported less depression, anxiety and neurotic behavior.
Researchers have also found that psychotherapy benefits people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a 2019 study V JAMA Psychiatry, The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 12 randomized clinical trials involving 922 people treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants were treated with either psychotherapy, pharmaceuticals, or a combination of both strategies.
The authors did not see any evidence that pharmaceuticals are an effective first-line treatment. At follow-up, psychotherapy showed greater benefit than medication. The study confirmed previous research that talking therapy provides the most lasting relief for people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
2016 study V depression and anxiety, for example, came to the conclusion that talking therapy should be the first approach to PTSD. The authors analyzed 55 studies that included 6,313 people who were undergoing a variety of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, including medication and talking therapy. People who were treated with talking therapy were less likely to drop out of the treatment program.
The authors found that the effects of talk therapy were stronger than those of pharmaceuticals, leading them to conclude: “… for all measures considered in this study, [trauma-focused psychotherapies] outweighed the drugs.
Read more: Do antidepressants change your personality?
Benefits of Talk Therapy
Versatility is an advantage psychotherapy. While one person may benefit from one-on-one talk therapy, another may benefit from support in a group setting. In memoirs groups the author described how she struggled with overeating and admitted to her therapist that she ate seven apples in one sitting. He called her habit of secrecy problematic and encouraged her to call a member of the group every day to report what she ate. She found accountability useful.
Researchers are looking at other ways in which talking therapy can be effective in a variety of settings. A 2020 study in Overview of Clinical Psychology A review of the literature on studies of the effectiveness of talking therapy in a natural setting was carried out.
Between 1994 and 2019, they found 38 relevant articles that detailed outdoor psychotherapy. One of the common themes was that nature-based talk therapy worked in situations where both client and clinician felt at peace in a natural space. They also found that outdoor settings work for people who are uncomfortable or embarrassed by the idea of conventional therapy.
Outdoor therapy can allow the client or therapist to apply metaphors from the natural world to life. For example, a person may think about how a gardener can plant a seed and grow a growing plant, but external factors mean that the outcome is out of his control.
New types of talking therapy
Metaphors of the nature of middle age about the personal problems of life are one of the many new twists in the approach to talking therapy. Psychotherapy as a term came into use at the end of the nineteenth century, but in the middle of the twentieth century it was overshadowed psychoanalysis.
In psychoanalysis, clients stretched out on a couch facing the therapist and recounted their memories of once-forgotten events. Over time, the analyst offered to understand what was bothering the person’s thinking, which was to reduce anxiety and bring a sense of peace.
This method was most associated with the famous neurologist Sigmund Freud, who often attributed clients’ problems to one of his unproven theories. A woman’s anxiety, for example, can be diagnosed as a symptom of penis envy.
One historian described how Freud’s approach fell out of favor “… because of his frequent refusal to take the morbid reasoning of patients at face value; instead, he forced them to confess to esoteric sexual fantasies.”
How to find a therapist
In contrast to psychoanalysis, advocates of talk therapy during Freud’s time encouraged clinicians to be empathetic to the client and to acknowledge “their real sources of distress”.
Today, clients are encouraged to find a therapist that best suits their needs. Many psychotherapists specialize in treating specific conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety. Others use special therapies like CBT and some offer different settings like virtual or outdoor.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) recommends that people conduct preliminary interviews with potential therapists and they offer a list of questions on their website that clients can ask potential therapists during the meet and greet.
If a therapist doesn’t feel like a match, NIMH advises people to keep looking because “mutual understanding and trust are essential” in a client-therapist relationship.
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