Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Psychological Assessment



STAI

Introduction to Psychotherapy

Introduction to Psychotherapy

D. Dutta Roy
Venue: Performing Arts therapy Centre
Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata


1. Definitions:        Therapy or treament is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. It refers to the treatment of mental or emotional disorders and adjustment problems through the use of psychological techniques rather than through physical or biological means. Psychotherapy is  primarily interpersonal treatment that is based on psychological principles.it is intended by the therapist to be remedial for the clients disorder, problem or complaint; and it is adapted or individualised for the particular client and his/her disorder, problem or complaint.

2. Objectives:       Psychotherapy aims to increase the individuals sense of his/ her own well being. It employs range of techniques based on experiential relationship building, dialogue, communication and behavior change that are designed to improve the mental health of a client or patient or to improve group relationships (such as in a family).

3. Types of Psychotherapy:       Brief psychotherapies (Short term individual psychotherapies ) : It is helpful for patients who have difficulties in personal relationships, but are free from serious disorder of personality. This is particularly suitable for those who have problems in relationships leading to unhappiness and anguish, in the absence of a specific neurotic syndrome.

4. Supportive Psychotherapy :     It is used to help a person through a time limited crisis caused either by social problems or by physical illness. Listening, prestige suggestion, explanation and advice, reassurance and  regulation of the relationship are important in this psychotherapy.

  • Listening: The patient should feel that he has the doctor's undivided attention and concern. In acute crisis, patients maybe helped, by the opportunity to express emotion.

  • Prestige Suggestion: Patient should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions and to work out solutions to their problems.Suggestions hsould be used sparingly; if the patient tries and fails, he may lose confidence not only in himself but also in the doctor.

  • Explanation and Advice: Explanation and advice should not be complicated. Important point shoould be put simply and repeated often and sometimes put in writing so that the patient can study them at home.

  • Reassurance: Reassurance must be truthful. Patient can foresee the outcome. If a patient finds he has been deceived he will lose the basic trust on which all treatment depends.

  • Regulation of Relationship: Intense relationships develop easily when the patient has a dependent personality and the treatment is prolonged. If there is a real need, for lengthy treatment dependency should be directed to the staff of the hospital or general practice rather than to an individual member.

5. Individual and Group psychotherapies

Psychoanalysis : It is the most time consuming and therefore the most expensive form of psychotherapy. This therapy has following components:
1. Free association
2. Resistance
3. Transference
4. Counter- transference.

  • Free Association : The analyst tries to reveal as little as possible about himself, while encouraging the patient to talk freely about his own thoughts and feelings. The analyst asks questions to make the material clear, confronts the patient with any contradictions and makes interpretations.Therapist remains relatively passive.

  • Resistance: As the procedure continues the patient usually begins to avoid certain topics and shows resistance to the treatment.

  • Transference: Gradually, patient's behavior and talk begin to give direct or indirect evidence that he is developing intense but distorted ideas and feelings about the analyst. These distortions result from the transference to the analyst of feelings and ideas related to earlier experiences in the patient's life.

  • Counter- transference: It refers to the the feelings of the analyst  towards the patient and shows an intereference in treatment. Some of these feelings provide the analyst with valuable insights into the patients problems.

Group Therapy: The group therapy concentrate on present problems in relationships and how these are reflected within the group. The past is discussed only in so far as it helps to make sense of present problems. Group therapy has some stages.

Initially, group tends to depend too much on the therapist, asking for expert advice about everyday problems and about appropriate ways of behaving within the group.

Second stage begins as the members get to know each other better and become used to discussing each others problems. This is the stage in which most change can be expected. The therapist encourages the examination of current problems and relationships. In the last stage of treatment, the problems of the most dependent members tend to dominate the rest. To avoid this imbalance, discussion of problems of termination should begin several weeks before the group is due to end.

Some of the group therapies are : Analytic Group Therapy, Transactional Group Therapy, Experiential Group Methods and Encounter Goups.











Sources
http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Psychotherapy.html#b