When describing ‘talk’ therapy or psychotherapy, there are several factors that are common among most types. First and foremost is empathy. It is a requirement for a successful practitioner to be able to understand his or her client’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Second, being non-judgmental is vital if the relationship and treatment are going to work. Finally, expertise. The therapist must have experience with issues similar to yours, be abreast of the research, and be adequately trained.Aside from these commonalties, therapists approach clients from slightly different angles, although the ultimate goal remains the same: to help the client reduce negative symptoms, gain insight into why these symptoms occurred and work through those issues, and reduce the emergence of the symptoms in the future. The three main branches include Cognitive, Behavioral, and Dynamic.Therapists who lean toward the cognitive branch will look at dysfunctions and difficulties as arising from irrational or faulty thinking. In other words, we perceive the world in a certain way (which may or may not be accurate) and this results in acting and feeling a certain way. Those who follow more behavioral models look at problems as arising from our behaviors which we have learned to perform over years of reinforcement. The dynamic camp stem more from the teaching of Sigmund Freud and look more at issues beginning in early childhood which then motivate us as adults at an unconscious level.Cognitive approaches appear to work better with most types of depression, and behavioral treatments tend to work better with phobias. Other than these two, no differences in terms of outcome have been found to exist. Most mental health professionals nowadays are more integrative in that they study how to treat people using different approaches. These professionals are sometimes referred to as integrationists.
