Self Help

Directional Methods in Therapy

We all have faced depression in our lives some time or the other. Some of us have been fortunate to have faced only a mild form of depression while others have not been so fortunate and faced a more severe version of depression. For such people the treatment might lie in psychoanalysis.

Psychotherapy in reference is the treatment, which minimal usage of medicines is, employed yet talking is the primary function in this therapy. Psychotherapy can be of various types like Cognitive Behavior Therapy, interpersonal therapy, rational emotional therapy etc. The various types of therapies used are main supporter elements, which decide on the severity of the case.

The most widely used therapeutic strategy is the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This therapy is the process of introducing something by replacing it with another, and by creating an environment whereas the patient feels at ease. The patient is then works alongside the therapist to become aware of the causes of their depression. The patient is then, asked to note down the various negative thoughts that occur to him or her during the course of the day. This way the therapist can come to know how frequently such thoughts come to the mind of the patient.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy lays stress on discussing the negative thoughts and the kind of behaviors that it leads to. This kind of therapy lays belief on the fact that it is better to bring about a change in the thought pattern of the patient rather than doing an in-depth study of his negative emotions. Cognitive Behavior therapy focuses on reconstructing the thoughts, by helping the patient discover reason, intuitions, and perceptions, thus teaching them to use this discovery to manage their lives while thinking more affectively. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on behaviors, and sometimes it takes years to heal a mind suffering with Behavior issues. Thus, the treatment works for acute cases, severe mental cases, and the like, such as Borderline Personality Disorder-BPD, which is incurable.

Interpersonal Therapy too like Cognitive Behavioral Theory is a short-duration treatment for depression related disorders. The main concern of this kind of treatment is usually on the individual’s social and other relationships. The therapist’s aim is to help the patient with improving the way the patient interacts with others. It is, based on the belief that a stable and healthy social circle is. When relationships break or run into a rough they directly, affect the concerned people. Such turmoil in relationships can give rise to negative thinking leading to depression. This therapy helps to improve the inter-relational skills, communication, emotion expression, dealing with situations in social circles etc. Although it is commonly used at individual levels, it can also used for group therapies.

Most of these therapies that concentrate on an individual like the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Interpersonal Therapy lay maximum stress on making the client pro-active in his approach to daily life and treatment. The patient is also supposed to do certain tasks at home or elsewhere outside the therapy centre. These play an essential role in the recovery of the patient. Nevertheless, at all times it is extremely important for the patient to realize that he too has to actively take part in the treatment process for successful.

Although, not much research has been, done on psychotherapy to support its results, therapist’s use it worldwide as the first step for curing depression and related troubles. Medications are and must always be, taken as the second step only in treatment of depression and related diseases.

Whenever an individual’s depression affects his family or a particular circle of people it is advisable that entire group seeks therapy. This is particularly beneficial because most of the times the spouses are also affected largely due to their partner’s depression. Children may reflect their depression upon the mother. Thus, a therapy, which focuses on not just the individual directly, affected but also those who might be affecting or getting affected is necessary.