JUST WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY?
JUST WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY?Psychotherapy is a treatment method, sometimes referred to as talking therapy, that involves a patient speaking with a therapist about his problems. The goals of psychotherapy include gaining insight and knowledge about the self and its emotional states and personal life history. The ultimate goal is to change ways of reacting to and dealing with situations that have caused trouble previously. So the goal is not just one of changing behavior, but rather of changing emotional responses, thinking patterns, and coping strategies. Behavioral change will follow on from that.As long as people have had the gift of language and have lived in communities, they have undoubtedly found it helpful to share their thoughts and worries with a person whom they trust and esteem. While a sympathetic ear and supporting friend can go a long way, people seek therapy when, in spite of such support, they are not able to change their emotional state or recurring maladaptive behaviors and when they are not able to carry out the advice that friends and advisors may give. The particular techniques used in psychotherapy and the understanding of the human mind upon which they are based have only developed over the last hundred years, starting in Europe with the work of people like Freud, Jung, and their associates.In psychotherapy, the therapist is a supportive, intent listener who tries to remain neutral toward the patient, especially in terms of opinions about actions the patient should take and in terms of morally judging the patient. In this way the therapist differs from a friend, who may have very strong opinions and may try to persuade or coerce the person to do certain things. Another important skill of the therapist is to not only listen very carefully to the patient, but to listen very carefully to her own reactions to the patient and to make sure that her interventions are in the patient’s interest only and not entangled with her own needs or desires. This is much harder for family members or friends to do, partly because their lives are necessarily entangled with the patient’s.The intent, trained listening of the therapist makes it possible for her to hear patterns, underlying issues, hidden emotions, and conflicting feelings that the patient may be unaware of and to begin to bring her observations to the patient for his own conscious examination. To have such a trained, objective, sympathetic outsider focusing all her attention on just what one is experiencing and why can open up a whole universe of understanding and make it possible for the patient to begin to see, feel, and do things very differently.Psychotherapy differs from the other treatments discussed in this book (i.e., medication and behavior therapy techniques) in two significant ways: First, its efficacy depends on the development of a trusting, consistent, and ongoing relationship between the therapist and the patient. Second, it is a talking therapy, and the role of language is crucial not only to the process of communication in therapy, but also to the healing mechanisms themselves.*78\173\2*
