Common therapies for anxiety and depression


Although there are more than fifty types of therapies, this article will provide a short overview of the more common ones.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is based on the research and clinical connection with such major theorists as Sigmund Freud, Harry Stack Sullivan, Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, or C. G. Jung. Although psychoanalysis acknowledges biological factors, it emphasizes internal conflicts (Freud), interpersonal issues (Sullivan), environmental and cultural factors (Horney), helplessness and inferiority complex (Alfred Adler), or spirituality, archetypes, and mythology (Jung).

To profit from psychoanalysis, you must be able to describe and interpret your symptoms in interpersonal terms - for example, "I get anxious when my hubby pressures me," or "I cant commit to a relationship with somebody because Im afraid of getting rejected."

Psychoanalysis generally requires several sessions a week for many years. There is often little direction distributed by a psychoanalyst, who may say hardly any to you, except to make an intermittent interpretation or to ask you to discuss whatever one thinks of. Relationships with important figures from your childhood in many cases are reenacted in therapy and this transference becomes a focus of the work. It's called resistance whenever you dont discuss your problems in therapy.

Person-Centered Therapy

Person-centered, or client-centered, therapy was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s. While psychoanalysis places the analyst in the role of expert, client-centered therapy views the customer as the expert and assumes you can understand yourself, and change unhealthy thoughts, feelings, and behaviors into healthier ones.

Rogers firmly believed that all people are basically trustworthy, resourceful, insightful, and able to living effective and productive lives. Rogerian therapists provide the following characteristics during sessions, that are believed to help clients move ahead in a positive manner: warmth, empathy, genuineness, and trust. Person-centered therapy focuses on the power from the therapeutic encounter. That relationship may be the core of therapy. The therapist reflects back the essence of the clients feelings. For example, "I am picking up the deep sense of loss and sadness you're feeling about your husband." The person-centered therapist also opens up new areas of exploration. For example, "Im also picking up your feeling of anger about being abandoned. Tell me more about that."

Unlike the psychoanalyst, the therapist isnt distant but appreciates your state of upset, would like to relate to you on a more personal level, and shows unconditional positive regard for you personally. Psychotherapists who practice using this format do not give advice or feedback, or challenge your experience. Along treatment varies.

If you are psychologically minded, insight-oriented, and motivated to make personal changes in your life, person-centered therapy may work well for you. If you need help with establishing goals along with a treatment plan, this kind of therapy might not be for you.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was created at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s by Aaron Beck, PhD. The main tenet of CBT is that thoughts determine feelings and behavior, and anxiety increases when you misinterpret situations and act in it in dysfunctional ways.

The goal of CBT is to help you test the precision of your perceptions and change the dysfunctional ones into more helpful ones. CBT is extremely structured and directive, unlike psychoanalytic and person-centered therapies. You work with the therapist to find out your goals for treatment. You'll be assigned homework between sessions to help you employ the new ways of thinking, acting, and feeling you learn in sessions. A training course of CB therapy typically lasts between eight and twenty sessions.

Marriage and Family Therapy

Marriage and family therapists take a systems view of issues such as anxiety. They believe that one family members problems are the result of unhealthy communication patterns, family roles, or family relationships within the community. Your therapist will most likely ask your entire family to attend sessions, or will a minimum of take a family view of your condition.

The goal of treatment is to help your family return to a proper state. Your therapist is going to be active during sessions, guiding you to help facilitate change during sessions and assigning homework between sessions to help family members practice new behaviors they need to implement.

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