Psychotherapy: Three Common Techniques are Psychoanalysis, Cognitive Therapy and Behavior Therapy
Psychotherapy involves a number of techniques used to improve mental health or emotional and behavioral issues. Three common techniques are psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Although these may have some fundamental similarities, especially in their objectives, there are some ways in which these approaches are different.
Psychoanalysis began with Freud. Trained as a neurologist, Freud began seeing neurological problems that had no biological basis in his clients. He therefore looked towards the mind for answers. Psychoanalysis is based on the belief that change will take place when an individual becomes more self- aware by bringing unconscious thoughts and feelings into the conscious. Behavior must be based more on reality than instinct. The basic method of psychoanalysis is the free association method, where the client is directed to say whatever comes to mind on hearing a particular word. The analyst listens well and interprets the patterns and inhibitions in the p
In some instances cognitive and behavior therapy are combined in one technique- cognitive-behavioral - where the analysts helps the client to understand the thinking behind his behavior while practicing alternative behaviors.
Cognitive therapy which also has its foundation in the concept of distorted thoughts and how they influence behavior uses a different technique for helping the client. The emphasis here is more on distorted thoughts interfering with the reality than on patterns of the client's personality as in the psychoanalytical model. The central premise is that our thoughts mediate between the stimuli in the environment and our emotions. Therefore a stimulus elicits a thought which in turn might stimulate a particular emotion, especially if that thought is an evaluative judgment. Cognitive therapists suggest that psychological distress is caused by distorted thoughts about stimuli giving rise to distressed emotions. In short, faulty thoughts cause psychological problems and there
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