16 Types of PSYCHOTHERAPY: Techniques and Methods

  • Jul 26, 2021
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Types of psychotherapy: techniques and methods

Many professionals, such as Frank (1961), point out that the effectiveness of psychotherapy techniques, are attributed to the ability of therapists to modify the expectations of the patients. That is, if a patient gives credibility and validity to this type of therapy, greater changes can be seen in the patient.

Due to this direct interaction of the therapist on the patient's attitude, it is considered that, in psychotherapy techniques, it is much more difficult to create a separation between the professional and the technique itself herself.

Therefore, in Psychology-Online we are going to present you a list of types of psychotherapies, as well as the explanation of its methodology and objectives.

You may also like: EMDR Psychotherapy for Paranoid Personality Disorder

Index

  1. How many types of psychotherapy are there
  2. Cognitive therapy
  3. Psychoanalytic therapy
  4. Psychodynamic therapy
  5. Cognitive behavioral therapy
  6. Dialectical behavior therapy
  7. Emotional rational psychotherapy
  8. Gestalt therapy
  9. Brief dynamic psychotherapy or strategic brief therapy
  10. Meditation, mindfulness or mindfulness
  11. Acceptance and commitment therapy
  12. Experiential speech therapy or psychotherapy
  13. Systemic family therapy
  14. Hypnotic therapy
  15. Reminiscence therapy
  16. Focal and integrative psychotherapy
  17. Reciprocal inhibition psychotherapy
  18. What type of therapy do I need?

How many types of psychotherapy are there.

There are many types of psychological therapy depending on the perspective and the methodology that is used to work. What are the different types of psychotherapy? Below we list the main types of psychological therapy.

  1. Cognitive psychotherapy
  2. Psychoanalytic therapy
  3. Psychodynamic therapy
  4. Dialectical behavior therapy
  5. Cognitive behavioral therapy
  6. Emotional rational psychotherapy
  7. Gestalt therapy
  8. Brief dynamic psychotherapy or strategic brief therapy
  9. Meditation, mindfulness or mindfulness
  10. Acceptance and commitment therapy
  11. Logotherapy or Experiential Psychotherapy
  12. Systemic family therapy
  13. Hypnotic therapy
  14. Reminiscence therapy
  15. Focal and integrative psychotherapy
  16. Reciprocal inhibition psychotherapy

1. Cognitive therapy.

To carry out this technique, professionals start from the base of the cognitive restructuring since it was identified that many patients with psychological disorders have negative thoughts and unrealistic beliefs. This therapy developed by Beck, has the objective that patients develop, thanks to the help exercised by the therapist, the skills necessary to identify and replace this type of thoughts. Here you can see in depth what it is and what the Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy.

2. Psychoanalytic therapy.

This technique was developed by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, with the aim of achieving the resolution of the psychological problems of the patients, starting from the base of their most repressed fantasies, thoughts and emotions, that is, of the inner world that they hide in themselves same. For the therapists who follow this practice, the unconscious of a person is of vital importance to determine what are the causes that give rise to the psychological problem.

If you want to know more about it, here you can read Basic concepts and methods in psychoanalysis.

3. Psychodynamic therapy.

It is a technique which shares its basis with psychoanalytic therapy, however, it presents a series of differences as far as its performance is concerned. These are much shorter in the interventions, as well as being characteristic for having a lower intensity in the intrusion of thought. On the other hand, the treatment focuses on which the therapist must focus are increasing. You could say that this type of therapy is about readapt psychoanalysis therapy to the present.

4. Cognitive-behavioral therapy.

It is about making the patient understand his way of thinking towards himself, towards other people and towards the world around him. It aims to help modify certain thoughts as well as actions or behaviors which has derivatives of these. This therapy focuses on the here and now that the patient is living at that moment in his life. Here you can see what it is and what techniques the cognitive behavioral therapy.

5. Dialectical behavior therapy.

This was born as an alternative to cognitive-behavioral therapy in front of those patients who present multiple diagnoses on the personality axis, which is why his behavior is very difficult to control and try. Employ techniques such as training in social skills, behavioral tasks, as well as behavior analysis but adding acceptance strategies to all of them with the aim that the patient incorporate the idea that there are certain behaviors which are accepted by the rest of society and that therefore there are others that are not they are.

Here you will find more information about the Linehan's Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy.

6. Emotional rational psychotherapy.

Developed by Albert ellis, this brief psychotherapy aims to achieve a profound and intense change in patients, especially when it comes to emotional level it means. It starts from the base of helping the subject to recognize the self-destructive processes that he possesses and to tune, through the use of reason and rationality, to more appropriate emotions. Emotions are given great importance, where a misidentification of these can lead to psychological problems.

7. Gestalt therapy.

Part of the idea that the things experienced by each individual are formulated individually. In other words, despite experiencing the same event, two people can give it a completely different mental meaning. Therefore, it focuses more on analyze and modify the way things are experienced and not so much in the event that is experienced. In the following article you can see What is Gestalt theory.

8. Brief dynamic psychotherapy or strategic brief therapy.

Part of the intention to know what are the factors that give rise to the maladaptive behavior of the patient to subsequently determine the most appropriate therapeutic mechanisms for their resolution. It is characterized by a short session time since only an attempt is made to reduce the patient's symptoms, not produce a deep and stable change in him.

9. Meditation, mindfulness or mindfulness.

This technique is used as a method to increase the awareness that people have about everything that surrounds them so that in this way they can reach to respond more skillfully to all those mental processes that can contribute to the development of psychological and mental disorders. behaviour. Here you will find what is and how do you practice mindfulness.

10. Acceptance and commitment therapy.

This therapy, unlike many others, is not based on changing or reducing thoughts and feelings annoying that can interfere in the life of a subject, but rather tries to alter its function and generate in he a flexibility in regulating their behavior. It seeks to generate in the patient a development of full awareness of it, which allows him to act in a valuable way.

11. Logotherapy or experiential psychotherapy.

The logotherapy, developed by Frankl, focuses all its attention on the meaning of human existence, starting from the search for an integral vision of the human being, which is considered as a unique being. It is an existential therapy where the problems of the individual are given by the existential emptiness that he feels.

12. Systemic family therapy.

People are considered as parts of a family system where psychological problems of individuals are produced by problems in the relationships between the members of these systems. With this technique it is intended reformulate the way in which the individual is perceived within said system to identify what are the causes of her problems.

13. Hypnotic therapy.

It is intended to induce in the patient a state of trance or partial sleep (known today by all professionals as a state of high suggestibility) so that you connect in a more intense way with your most emotional and primitive thoughts.

14. Reminiscence therapy.

Created to be performed with patients with dementia, this therapy consists of talk about one's life experience with the aim of sharing memories and reflecting on the past. It aims to stimulate episodic autobiographical memory in adults in order to reduce brain deterioration.

15. Focal and integrative psychotherapy.

Again we find a psychotherapy which has its basis in psychoanalysis, however, this has a focus on which the therapist will focus all his attention when helping the patient. This focus is considered to be the basis of the patient's conflict, for which the anxious and psychological symptoms that it presents have been developed.

16. Reciprocal inhibition psychotherapy.

In this type of psychotherapy the therapist helps the patient to develop appropriate responses to stimuli which provoke in him, attitudes or unwanted responses. To do this, use is made of the application of incompatible responses which make it impossible for the subject to carry out the non-adaptive behavior that he usually performs.

What type of therapy do I need?

At this point, it is normal for you to ask yourself what type of therapy is better or what type of psychotherapy is the one you need. Each person is completely different, like each disorder, so from here we cannot venture to determine the type of therapy that would suit each person.

In addition, it must be taken into account that many of these psychotherapies do not have real scientific evidence, so their validity and reliability can be considerably affected. Which can be crucial when choosing one type or another of therapy.

Therefore, our recommendation is that You go to a specialized professional and state your problem to him, since he or she will be able to develop a treatment plan according to your needs.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Types of psychotherapy: techniques and methods, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

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