Question

Discuss the three approaches to psychological treatment

Answer 1

Approaches to Psychological Treatment-

• Hypnotherapy is guided hypnosis, or a trance-like state of focus and concentration achieved with the help of a clinical hypnotherapist. This trance-like state is similar to being completely absorbed in a book, movie, music, or even one's own thoughts or meditations. In this state, clients can turn their attention completely inward to find and utilize the natural resources deep within themselves that can help them make changes or regain control in certain areas of their life. Although there are different techniques, clinical hypnotherapy is generally performed in a calm, therapeutic environment. The therapist will guide you into a relaxed, focused state and ask you to think about experiences and situations in positive ways that can help you change the way you think and behave. Unlike some dramatic portrayals of hypnosis in movies, books, or on stage, you will not be unconscious, asleep, or in any way out of control of yourself. You will hear the therapist’s suggestions, but it is up to you to decide whether or not to act on them. Hypnosis is not a psychotherapeutic treatment or a form of psychotherapy, but rather a tool or procedure that helps facilitate various types of therapies and medical or psychological treatments. Only trained health care providers certified in clinical hypnosis can decide, with their patient, if hypnosis should be used along with other treatments. As with psychotherapy, the length of hypnosis treatment varies, depending on the complexity of the problem.
• Integrative therapy is a progressive form of psychotherapy that combines different therapeutic tools and approaches to fit the needs of the individual client. With an understanding of normal human development, an integrative therapist modifies standard treatments to fill in development gaps that affect each client in different ways. By combining elements drawn from different schools of psychological theory and research, integrative therapy becomes a more flexible and inclusive approach to treatment than more traditional, singular forms of psychotherapy. Integrative psychotherapy techniques can be incorporated into almost any type of therapeutic work with children, adolescents, and adults, in individual practice or group settings. An integrative approach can be used to treat any number of psychological problems and disorders, including depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. The therapist matches evidence-based treatments to each client and each disorder. Integrative therapy is more inclusive of the client than traditional forms of therapy, where the client plays a less active role in treatment. Integrative psychotherapists consider the individual characteristics, preferences, needs, physical abilities, spiritual beliefs, and motivation level of their clients and use their professional judgment to decide the best approach to therapy for each client. Different approaches may be used consecutively throughout different stages of the therapeutic process or they may be used as a single combined form of therapy throughout. There are more than 400 different types of psychotherapy, differentiated by their approach, the clients they serve, and how long and how often the therapist typically meets with clients. Research shows that even though each of these approaches vary somewhat, they can all result in similar outcomes. And because a single approach to psychotherapy does not always provide the best benefit to the client, therapists—who are trained in one particular therapeutic model, such as cognitive-behavioral, family, or gestalt therapy—often use tools borrowed from other therapies to come up with a unique and effective form of treatment that is suitable and effective for individual clients. Some psychotherapists simply refer to themselves as integrative therapists, rather than identify with one therapeutic model. Although similar in style, integrative therapy differs from eclectic therapy in that it uses techniques backed by scientific research and proven to treat specific disorders, whereas eclectic therapy focuses more on the effectiveness of a technique and is less concerned with whether or not scientific evidence has proven its effectiveness for specific problems.
• Unlike traditional forms of therapy that take time to analyze problems, pathology and past life events, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) concentrates on finding solutions in the present time and exploring one’s hope for the future to find quicker resolution of one’s problems. This method takes the approach that you know what you need to do to improve your own life and, with the appropriate coaching and questioning, are capable of finding the best solutions. SFBT can stand alone as a therapeutic intervention, or it can be used along with other therapy styles and treatments. It is used to treat people of all ages and a variety of issues, including child behavioral problems, family dysfunction, domestic or child abuse, addiction, and relationship problems. Though not a cure for psychiatric disorders such as depression or schizophrenia, SFBT may help improve quality of life for those who suffer from these conditions. Goal-setting is at the foundation of SFBT; one of the first steps is to identify and clarify your goals. The therapist will begin by questioning what you hope to get out of working with the therapist and how, specifically, your life would change when steps were taken to resolve problems. By answering these types of questions, you can begin to identify solutions and come up with a plan for change. One of the key questions the therapist asks is called the miracle question: “If a miracle occurred while you were asleep tonight, what changes would you notice in your life tomorrow?” This opens up your mind to creative thinking and, again, to setting goals and developing a clear plan that will lead to life-changing solutions. SFBT was developed by Milwaukee psychotherapists Steve De Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in the late 1970s, early 1980s out of an interest in paying more attention to what people want and what works best for the individual, in contrast to more traditional psychotherapies that presume to know what works for different types of problems. One of the original beliefs of SFBT therapists was that the solution to a problem is found in the “exceptions,” or those times when one is free of the problem or taking steps to manage the problem. Working from the theory that all individuals are at least somewhat motivated to find solutions, SFBT begins with what the individual is currently doing to initiate behavioral and lifestyle changes. The therapist uses interventions such as specific questioning techniques, 0-10 scales, empathy and compliments that help a person to recognize one’s own virtues, like courage and strength, that have recently gotten the person through hard times and are likely to work well in the future. Individuals learn to focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t, which allows them to find solutions and make positive changes more quickly.