Who can benefit from psychotherapy?
The term psychotherapy refers to a multitude of interventions used to help two groups of people: 1) those with mental health disorders; 2) those with overwhelming emotional challenges.
Mental health disorders include many biologically based illnesses — such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), major depressive episode, eating disorders, anxiety — that interfere with functioning and/or cause significant distress. Some mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are primarily treated with medication, while psychotherapy is an adjunct treatment. For others, psychotherapy is the primary treatment. For instance, OCD is primarily treated with the psychotherapeutic intervention known as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Without this treatment, OCD can cause significant lifelong suffering and dysfunction, while with treatment, there is a very high rate of recovery.
Similarly, ongoing life-disrupting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) don’t tend to resolve on their own, while appropriate psychotherapeutic interventions have a high success rate in returning a person to their previous level of functioning and well-being.
Unique therapeutic protocols are employed for each of the different mental health disorders. “Talking” doesn’t cure mental health disorders. A person who suffers from depression or anxiety requires treatments that specifically address the cognitive, emotional, and physical aspects of the disorder. When seeking treatment for a mental health disorder, it’s important to ensure that the practitioner is trained in the appropriate treatment protocols for that condition. If the treatment consists only of talking (i.e., talking about problems at home or work/school while the therapist acknowledges, validates, and comments), it is not a sufficient treatment for actual mental health disorders.
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