What is Psychotherapy and Does it Work ?
Over the next four posts I will answer some basic questions you might have about psychotherapy, from my own perspective, as a Client-Centered and Body-Centered Psychotherapist. First of all, here is my answer to a question many, many people may not know or may be confused about.
What is Psychotherapy?
Whether you’re considering individual, couples or group psychotherapy, it is helpful to know what psychotherapy actually is. In general terms, psychotherapy involves forming a relationship with a psychotherapist who specializes in creating a safe, respectful and caring space for you to discover new ways of being in your life that serve you better. Feelings of depression, anxiety, guilt, fear, trauma, stress, and low self-esteem do not serve us and effectively block access to our desire for joy, peace and fulfillment.
With me, psychotherapy is a process of supported self-discovery that offers an opportunity you can count on, to find understanding, resolution, and healing for the hurts and anxieties that suppress and frustrate your access to the life you really and truly want. It is a facilitated process that leads you, on your own terms, to deeper and more fulfilling connections with your self, partners, friends and family, and to feeling healthier, happier and more alive.
Does Psychotherapy Really Work?
Countless studies have shown that it does. The effects of therapy have been measured in terms of improved social functioning, relief from anxiety, reductions in depression, and in just about every other way that improvement and effectiveness can be defined.
The U.S. Surgeon General, a notoriously conservative source says that – “Personal anxiety and mental turmoil are treatable … the evidence for treatment being effective is overwhelming… and the inescapable point is that studies demonstrate conclusively that Psychotherapeutic treatment is effective.”
Consumer Reports magazine concluded similarly. In their extensive study of the topic, which relied largely on self-reports from patients, 9 out of 10 North Americans reported positive benefits from psychotherapy. Consumer Reports gave psychological health care a solid endorsement, and noted that treatment by highly qualified therapists was more likely to produce benefits.
An important study done by Kaiser Permanente, a large health care organization, on 10,000 of its patients, demonstrated that patients who receive Psychotherapeutic treatment reduce their health care utilization to a degree sufficient to entirely offset the cost of therapy. Kaiser discovered that treated patients tended to be healthier, happier and use less medical care of all types. They also found that patients spent fewer days in the hospital and visited physicians less frequently.
In my next post I will talk why therapy is a critical component in creating joy, peace and fulfillment in our everyday lives.
