psychotherapy

Under the term psychotherapy one understands a multitude of forms of treatment of mental and spiritual or psychosocial illnesses and impairments, which takes place without the use of medication. Psychotherapy is primarily a form of talk therapy.

What is psychotherapy?

The term psychotherapy is understood to mean a multitude of forms of treatment for emotional and mental or psychosocial diseases and impairments that take place without the use of medication.

Since the professional title of psychotherapist is not protected in Germany, not every "psychotherapist" can settle accounts with statutory and private health insurance companies.

In this case, it is advisable to look specifically for qualified personnel with the designation "psychological psychotherapist". They are able to accept referrals from general practitioners and bill the health insurance companies for their services.

Usually one begins psychotherapy with a first conversation with a family doctor who makes an initial assessment of his patient during his consultation hours and knows how to recommend suitable addresses if necessary, since psychotherapy can be divided into different focuses.

Function, effect & goals

One of the focal points within the psychotherapy represents, in addition to depth psychology and behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, whereby the former is fundamentally part of psychoanalysis and includes, for example, methods such as therapeutic hypnosis.

Psychoanalysis, whose best-known names are Sigmund Freud and CG Jung, is basically a therapy over several months or even years, which is mainly used when there is no specific problem, such as the concrete fear of spiders or Heights.

Psychoanalysis is used when deeper problems are recognizable that require longer therapy, but cannot be specified by the patient. These include, for example, eating disorders, depression or delusional personality disorders.

Behavioral therapy has a much shorter treatment duration. It is used for phobias or compulsions, such as fear of heights and flight, or compulsions to wash and control. Here a specifically named problem is treated, which, in contrast to psychoanalysis, can work specifically on a starting point from the start and therefore requires few therapy hours. The first successes are usually evident quickly.

Basically, psychotherapy serves the well-being of the patient to be treated, whereby depth psychological or psychoanalytic therapies can influence the patient in such a way that he completely changes his previous life and his social environment. This is possibly the goal of these forms of therapy. It is important to strengthen the patient and to support him in his self-discovery; this can of course also result in a reversal of his entire previous life.

Of particular importance in all forms of psychotherapy is compliance, i.e. the patient's consent and cooperation in the therapy. If the patient is not ready to put his trust in the therapist, he will not open up to him and honestly discuss his problems with him.

The prerequisite for this is the understanding that you are suffering from a problem and want to treat it. Therefore, a certain therapeutic sensitivity is required, for example in the case of offenders who are to be treated, to recognize whether the course of the conversation is serious or whether the patient is telling the therapist what he or she would like to hear, in order to be able to provide him with an expert opinion that is as safe as possible.

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Criticism & dangers

Like any form of treatment, the psychotherapy Supporters and critics alike. Since the majority of these are conversational therapies, it may well happen that the patient to be treated deliberately reveals untruths - possibly very plausible - or deliberately pulls the therapist along in a special direction.

This often happens with patients with the so-called borderline syndrome, who can even win over the therapist if the therapist does not show enough resistance. There is also the risk of the patient becoming dependent on his therapist. Under certain circumstances, the latter relies too much on the fact that "someone else" will solve their own problems.

In principle, however, it can be said that psychotherapy is a useful instrument for treating mental illnesses. Psychotherapy, hand in hand with conventional medicine, has become an indispensable part of our current understanding of the treatment of various diseases and serves the well-being of those affected to a large extent.