Treating Mental Disorders with Talk Therapy

Talk therapy, also called psychotherapy treatment, can help treat a wide range of mental disorders. This type of therapy generally involves attending consistent sessions in which you speak to a mental health care provider, learn about your condition, and discover coping mechanisms. Whether or not you take medication for a mental health concern, talk therapy is a great addition to your treatment plan that can help improve your ability to function and feel healthy.

Types of talk therapy

Rather than being an all-encompassing term, psychotherapy treatment actually refers to many different and nuanced approaches. Before deciding to try talk therapy, it helps to understand the different options available:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Throughout several sessions, a therapist guides patients in how to recognize and change their responses to certain thoughts and emotions.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): Following similar methods to CBT, this type of therapy emphasizes the patient’s relationships with others and encourages them to embrace multiple thoughts and feelings.
• Couples, family, or group therapy: Couples and family therapy focus on helping people to overcome shared challenges. The therapist acts as a mediator. In group therapy, people with similar mental health concerns discuss common issues together with the guidance of the therapist.
• Humanistic therapy: Focused on helping a person feel empowered to make decisions and fulfill their potential, this option allows patients to lead the conversation and deeply discuss specific scenarios or life events of concern.
• Other types: These are just a small sample of the many different kinds of talk therapy available. A psychiatrist or mental health provider can help you find the right kind of care for your needs.

A key component of therapy is confidentiality between the patient and therapist. With a few exceptions, anything you discuss with a therapist is kept private. In some cases, you may discover after the first few sessions that your therapist is not a good match. If this happens, it is appropriate for you to seek out another therapist. Often, the current therapist can refer you to someone more specialized to help with your unique concerns.

How talk therapy helps

The goal of any psychotherapy treatment is to help you to feel better and go about your life with greater ease. Therapy often emphasizes recognizing your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to different situations. It also teaches skills called coping mechanisms, which allow you to overcome common challenges related to mental health.

Talk therapy is a powerful tool to improve mental health, but it does require effort on your part. In addition to attending regular sessions, you should strive to apply what you learn to your life and make a conscious effort to improve. Depending on the extent of the mental disorder, therapy may be paired with medication to create a more holistic treatment.