The term psychotherapy refers to a variety of forms of treatment of emotional and mental or psychosocial diseases and impairments, which takes place without the use of drugs. It is psychotherapy primarily talk therapy forms.
What is psychotherapy?
The term psychotherapy refers to a variety of forms of treatment for mental and spiritual or psychosocial illnesses and impairments that take place without the use of medication. Since the professional title of psychotherapist is not protected in Germany, not every “psychotherapist” can necessarily settle with statutory, as well as private health insurance. It is therefore advisable in this case to look specifically for specialists with the title “psychological psychotherapist”. They are able to accept referrals from general practitioners and bill their services to health insurance companies. In most cases, psychotherapy begins with an initial consultation with a family doctor, who makes an initial assessment of his patient during his consultation hours and, if necessary, knows how to recommend suitable addresses, since psychotherapy can be divided into different areas of focus.
Function, effect and goals
One of the focal points within psychotherapy represents, along with depth psychology and behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, whereby the former is basically a part of psychoanalysis and includes, for example, methods such as therapeutic hypnosis. Psychoanalysis, whose most famous names are probably Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung, it is basically a therapy over several months or even years, which is used mainly when there is no specific problem, such as the concrete fear of spiders or heights. Psychoanalysis is used when deeper problems are apparent that require longer therapy, but cannot be made concrete on the part of the patient. These include, for example, eating disorders, depression or delusional personality disorders. Behavioral therapy has a much shorter treatment duration. It is used for phobias or compulsions, such as fear of heights and flying or washing and control compulsions. Here, a concretely named problem is treated, which, in contrast to psychoanalysis, can work specifically on one starting point from the beginning and therefore requires only a few hours of therapy. In most cases, the first successes become apparent quickly. Basically, psychotherapy serves the well-being of the person being treated, whereby especially depth psychological or psychoanalytical therapies can influence the patient in such a way that he or she completely changes his or her previous life as well as his or her social environment. This may be the goal of these forms of therapy. The aim is to strengthen the patient and to support him in his self-discovery; this can, of course, also result in a reversal of his entire previous life. Of particular importance in all forms of psychotherapy, is compliance, that is, the patient’s consent and cooperation in the therapy. If the patient is not willing to trust the therapist, he will not open up to him and honestly discuss his problems with him. The prerequisite for this is the insight that the patient is suffering from a problem and wants to be treated. Therefore, it requires a certain therapeutic sensitivity, for example, in the case of offenders to be treated, to recognize whether the course of the conversation is serious or whether the patient tells the therapist what the latter supposedly would like to hear in order to give him an unquestioning opinion if possible.
Criticism and dangers
Like any form of treatment, psychotherapy has its proponents as well as its critics. Since it is for the most part conversational therapy, it may well happen that the patient being treated deliberately reveals untruths – in some circumstances very credibly – or deliberately pulls the therapist along in a particular direction. This often happens with patients with the so-called borderline syndrome, who can even take over the therapist if the latter does not show enough resistance. There is also the danger of the patient’s dependence on the therapist. Under certain circumstances, the patient relies too much on the fact that “someone else” will solve his or her own problems. Basically, however, it can be said that psychotherapy is a useful instrument for the treatment of mental illnesses.Hand in hand with conventional medicine, psychotherapy has become an indispensable part of our current understanding of the treatment of various illnesses and serves to a great extent the well-being of the affected person.
