Psychotherapy is a psychological intervention designed to help people struggling with emotional, behavioral, and/or interpersonal problems. There are over 500 brands of psychotherapy available today. The professionals that practice psychotherapy can range from social workers to clinical psychologists, and while many have advanced degrees, there is no evidence to support a difference in success based on level of education. Along with the variety of psychotherapists, the ways to approach psychotherapy vary. Three of the primary approaches to psychotherapy are the cognitive, humanistic, and behavioral approaches. Psychotherapists following the cognitive approach believe that cognitions influence behavior. Cognitions refer to thinking and can include ideas, beliefs, attitudes, stereotypes, and much more. There are three core assumptions all cognitive therapies share. Firstly, according to the cognitive psychotherapy approach, cognitions are identifiable and measurable. Therefore, a patient must be aware of their behavior in order to change it. Secondly, the cognitive psychotherapy approach follows the idea that irrational beliefs or thinking can be replaced by more rational and adaptive cognitions. Thus, a cognitive psychotherapist would focus on changing a patient’s thinking in order to improve outcomes. Finally, the cognitive psychotherapy approach is based on the fact that cognitions are key in both healthy and unhealthy psychological functioning. These three core assumptions are utilized in all cognitive therapies, including rational-emotive behavioral therapy, which focuses on the idea that psychological problems are caused by how people think about events, not the events themselves. In a therapeutic setting, a cognitive psychotherapist would utilize cognitive restructuring, the process of replacing irrational thoughts with more realistic ones, to change how a patient thinks and acts using rational-emotive behavioral therapy. Contrary, the humanistic approach to psychotherapy emphasizes the development of human potential.
…show more content…
Unlike in the cognitive approach, humanistic psychotherapists stress the importance of living fully in the present and developing a sense of empathy. One form of humanistic psychotherapy is Gestalt therapy. Gestalt therapy aims to integrate different aspects of personality into a unified self. Gestalt therapy focuses on awareness, acceptance, and expression of feelings. A common technique that humanistic psychotherapists utilizing Gestalt therapy use is the two-chair technique, where therapists ask the patient to move from chair to chair, conversing with the two conflicting aspects of their personality. A second kind of humanistic psychotherapy, person-centered therapy, involves the patients directing the therapy session to focus on their own goals and problems. However, the effectiveness of person-centered therapy is controversial. While some believe that person-centered therapy results in substantial improvement, others believe that it may not help more than a placebo treatment. Although person-centered therapy has proven to be more effective than no treatment, in most cases cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy are much more effective. Finally, the behavioral psychotherapy approach is based on the idea that psychopathology is due to learned behaviors. Behavior psychotherapists focus on the specific behaviors that cause problematic thoughts and feelings. Contrary to the cognitive approach that follows the idea that thoughts cause behavior, the behavioral approach to psychotherapy is based on the idea that behaviors cause thoughts. Behavioral psychotherapists believe that operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and observational learning cause behavior change. For example, a patient with agoraphobia may avoid using public transportation, which is a form of negative reinforcement. This is negative reinforcement because the removal of the stimulus, the public transportation,
Unlike in the cognitive approach, humanistic psychotherapists stress the importance of living fully in the present and developing a sense of empathy. One form of humanistic psychotherapy is Gestalt therapy. Gestalt therapy aims to integrate different aspects of personality into a unified self. Gestalt therapy focuses on awareness, acceptance, and expression of feelings. A common technique that humanistic psychotherapists utilizing Gestalt therapy use is the two-chair technique, where therapists ask the patient to move from chair to chair, conversing with the two conflicting aspects of their personality. A second kind of humanistic psychotherapy, person-centered therapy, involves the patients directing the therapy session to focus on their own goals and problems. However, the effectiveness of person-centered therapy is controversial. While some believe that person-centered therapy results in substantial improvement, others believe that it may not help more than a placebo treatment. Although person-centered therapy has proven to be more effective than no treatment, in most cases cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy are much more effective. Finally, the behavioral psychotherapy approach is based on the idea that psychopathology is due to learned behaviors. Behavior psychotherapists focus on the specific behaviors that cause problematic thoughts and feelings. Contrary to the cognitive approach that follows the idea that thoughts cause behavior, the behavioral approach to psychotherapy is based on the idea that behaviors cause thoughts. Behavioral psychotherapists believe that operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and observational learning cause behavior change. For example, a patient with agoraphobia may avoid using public transportation, which is a form of negative reinforcement. This is negative reinforcement because the removal of the stimulus, the public transportation,