Question

Post an explanation of whether psychotherapy has a biological basis.

Explain how culture, religion, and socioeconomics might influence one’s perspective of the value of psychotherapy treatments.

Support your rationale with evidence-based literature.

Answer 1

Ans 1. Psychotherapy is an individualized yet comprehensive biological treatment, it does not target one receptor, one or two neurotransmitters, or single modulators, it taps into all the biological regulations underlying complex brain responses.

Neuroscience surprisingly teaches us that not only is psychotherapy purely biological, but it is the only real biological treatment. It addresses the brain in the way it actually develops, matures, and operates. It follows the principles of evolutionary adaptation. It is consonant with genetics. And it specifically heals the problematic adaptations of the brain in precisely the ways that they evolved in the first place. Psychotherapy deactivates maladaptive brain mappings and fosters new and constructive pathways.

The operations of the brain are purely biological. The brain maps our experiences and memories through the linking of trillions of neuronal connections. These interconnected webs create larger circuits that map all throughout the architecture of the cortex. This generates high-level symbolic neuronal maps that take form as images in our consciousness. The play of consciousness is the highest level of symbolic form. It is a living theater of "image-ination," a representational world that consists of a cast of characters who relate together by feeling as well as scenarios, plots, set designs, and landscape.

Ans 2. Cultural ways of being are also present within psychotherapy. The culture of traditional psychotherapy includes the social custom of people going to a therapy office, sitting in a chair or on a couch for 45 - 60 minutes once per week, and talking about what is going on in their lives with a skilled professional. This social arrangement assumes trust, vulnerability, and the possibility of change. The foundations of psychotherapy have been rooted in Western psychology that typically emphasizes individualism and self-development. It is believed that if you talk with a professional trained in addressing mental health concerns, then there is hope for an individual to improve or feel better. Acknowledging the role of culture in psychotherapy is important because it helps to frame specific expectations and customs within the psychotherapy experience. A brief and simple example: When people choose to visit a medical doctor when physically ill. Based on people's culture, some individuals choose to interface with medical professionals, while other folks may choose other options such as prayer, homeopathic remedies, fasting, etc.

The Religious Cognitive – Emotional Therapy is essentially a new form of cognitive theory based on religious approaches. According to cognitive theories, what we think (cognition), what we feel (emotion and affect) and how we act (behavior) interact with each other. The basic aim of the cognitive therapy is to identify irrational or maladaptive thoughts, assumptions and beliefs which are related to debilitating negative emotions to identify what is dysfunctional or just not helpful about them. Therefore, the patients must give away irrational and distorted thoughts and replace them with more realistic and self - helping alternatives.

Socioeconomic status impacts psychotherapy as well.psychotherapy may not be meeting the needs of low-income clients are concerning, particularly given the dearth of scholarship examining social class and psychotherapy. Indeed, given the clear need for this work, it is puzzling why relatively little attention has been given to class and psychotherapy. A major factor is likely the various barriers that interfere with the efforts of low-income individuals to access mental health service, resulting in fewer opportunities to investigate what works in therapeutic interventions.

Such barriers include, but are not limited to, logistical problems like transportation and child care, perceived stigma and mistrust in the mental health care system, and cultural differences in help-seeking and idioms of distress.in addition to these reasons, mental healthcare providers face their own psychological barriers when working with low-income clients. These include their assumptions of what constitutes ‘good therapy,’ as well as both negative stereotypes and idealizations of people who are poor, which can result in differential and inadequate treatment.