Description
Psychotherapy is a specialized mental health service, which can help you solve cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems. It is also one of the methods of treatment for people who have a mental disorder.
Possible Benefits
- May improve your mental health
- May improve your mood
- May help you cope with stress
- May help you solve relationship problems
- May help you be more resilient
- May increase your wellbeing
- May increase your autonomy
How to Do It
You have several options to go to psychotherapy:
- Visit a mental health institution and ask for outpatient services.
- Look for private professionals and schedule an initial consultation.
- Find a psychotherapy provider online.
Usually, the professional will ask you general questions about your mental health and ask about specific problems or issues that you want to address in psychotherapy. A normal session lasts 45 to 50 minutes.
Psychotherapy is a private and confidential practice, so you can be open about your feelings and problems. The more honest you are with your therapist, the more beneficial the process is.
Why it works
- Psychology professionals have a scientific background and training to help treat mental problems.
- People, on their own, do not always have the capacity and resources to deal with their mental problems. Especially when they are chronic.
- According to the American Psychological Association (APA), after only 8 psychotherapy sessions half of the patients improve, and after 6 months 75% of them have improved.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is one of the leading causes of disability, affecting about 264 million people. For this reason, psychotherapy and other mental health services are promoted.
Time Commitment
45-50 minutes per session
Suggested Frequency
According to the professional advice
Time of Day
Any
Possible Side Effects
There may be stress at the beginning. Some people become hypervigilant about their mental health.
Tips
- Make sure your professional has an academic background and training in psychotherapy.
- Psychotherapy is different from counseling. Counseling is shorter and less specialized.
- You can go to psychotherapy as a preventive measure. Even if you don't have mental problems.
- Be aware that chronic distress itself may cause mental disorders. Don’t wait too long to get professional help.
- According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), more than a quarter of American adults experience a mental disorder each year.
Supporting Studies and Articles
Expand Collapse- Get the facts about psychotherapy. https://www.apa.org/topics/psychotherapy-myths
- Understanding psychotherapy and how it works. https://www.apa.org/topics/understanding-psychotherapy
- Evidence-Based Psychotherapy: Advantages and Challenges. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5509639/
- Does psychotherapy work? An umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28240781/
- Mental Health Information. Statistics. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/index.shtml
- Facts in pictures. Mental health. https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/mental-health
- Synchrony in Psychotherapy: A Review and an Integrative Framework for the Therapeutic Alliance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4907088/
- The efficacy of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and their combination on functioning and quality of life in depression: a meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27780478/
