Family Therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems therapy, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development.
It tends to view these in terms of the systems of interaction between family members.
It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health.
As such, family problems have been seen to arise as an emergent property of systemic interactions, rather than to be blamed on individual members.
Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) are the most specifically trained in this type of psychotherapy.
Family therapists may focus more on how patterns of interaction maintain the problem rather than trying to identify the cause, as this can be experienced as blaming by some families.
It assumes that the family as a whole is larger than the sum of its parts.
Family therapy may also be used to draw upon the strengths of a social network to help address a problem that may be completely externally caused rather than created or maintained by the family.
Family therapy practitioners come from a range of professional backgrounds, and some are specifically qualified or licensed/registered in family therapy (licensing is not required in some jurisdictions and requirements vary from place to place).
In the UK, family therapists are usually psychologists, nurses, psychotherapists, social workers, or counselors who have done further training in family therapy, either a diploma or an M.Sc.; however, in the U.S., there is a specific license as a Marriage and Family therapist.
Family therapy has been used effectively where families, and or individuals in those families experience or suffer:
Feminist Therapy is a set of related therapies arising from the disparity between the origin of most psychological theories and the majority of people seeking counseling being female.
It focuses on societal, cultural, and political causes and solutions to issues faced in the counseling process.
It openly encourages the client to participate in the world in a more social and political way.
Feminist therapy has emerged from the recognition that much of human suffering is a result of the unequal distribution of power in society, particularly based upon gender, race and ethnicity, class, dis/ability, sexual orientation, and so forth.
These power differentials have been a factor in direct injuries such as sexual assault as well as indirect ones such as limited options.
A feminist approach implies a commitment to social change.
The practice of feminist therapy is thus politicized in both its theoretical understanding of the causes of injury as well as in its enactment.
A collaborative and respectful working relationship is therefore at the foundation of feminist therapy.
*The personal is political
*Personal and social identities are interdependent
*Conventional distress and "mental illness" concepts are challenged
Focusing is a naturally occurring human process first observed and made teachable by philosopher and psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin.
During his 15 years of research, beginning in 1953 at the University of Chicago, Gendlin analyzed what made psychotherapy either successful or unsuccessful.
He found that it is not the therapist's technique that determines the success of psychotherapy, but something the patient does during therapy sessions.
Though this 'something' is an inner act, it is one which is consistently marked by an observable set of behaviors so that it was possible for Gendlin to see in his research when this inner act was happening, and when it wasn't.
Gendlin found that successful patients intuitively focused on a very subtle and vague internal bodily awareness — or "felt sense."
Much of what a person knows has never been consciously thought and verbalized.
A felt sense forms as a person pays attention to 'all that about ....' which is pertinent in some situation but which has not yet been made explicit.
Gendlin observed successful patients turning their attention to this not-yet-articulated knowing.
As a felt sense formed, there would be long pauses together with sounds like 'uh....' Then new words would come which framed new insights into the situation.
These successful patients were able to be successful because they could move beyond the 'old thoughts' they'd already had which had not been helpful to them, while remaining connected with their own experience.
Since these insights came from what they already knew implicitly, they 'owned' these insights and therefore could act from them.
Gendlin laid out steps for the process he had observed, so that it could be taught to other patients who did not already know it.
His six steps are detailed in the book Focusing,.
Focusing is now practiced all over the world.
Most practitioners of the skill find it easiest to Focus in the presence of a "listener" who has been trained in the kind of listening which best supports the Focusing process.
Focusing and listening sessions take place in professional settings with focusing trainers, focusing-oriented therapists or coaches, and also informally between laypeople.
A focusing session can last from approximately 30 minutes to an hour, on average — with the "focuser" being listened to, and his verbalized thoughts and feelings being reflected back, by the "listener."
There is a school of therapy based on the process. The Focusing-oriented psychotherapist, among other things, attributes a central importance to the client's capacity to be aware of their "felt sense," and the meaning behind their words or images.
The client's ability to sense into feelings and meanings which are not yet formed is also important.
Additionally, the therapist pays attention to their own felt sense as a source of information and insight during the therapy process.
Focusing has also been applied in other domains besides therapy.
Attention to the felt sense naturally takes place in all manner of processes where something new is being formed: for example in creative process, learning, thinking, and decision making.
Gendlin's training as a philosopher before he became a psychotherapist and researcher is relevant to the history of Focusing.
His philosophical investigations, which concerned themselves with the nature of 'the implicit', made it easy for him to notice that there was something being attended to by successful clients which was not yet explicit.
His later philosophical work also builds on what he learned as a psychotherapist and researcher.
The whole of Gendlin's philosophical work forms a framework for understanding what the felt sense 'is', and what makes Focusing possible.
Today psychoanalysis comprises several interlocking theories concerning the functioning of the mind.
The term also refers to a specific type of treatment where the analyst, upon hearing the thoughts of the analysand (analytic patient), formulates and then explains the unconscious basis for the patient's symptoms and character problems.
Unconscious functioning was first described by Sigmund Freud, who modified his theories several times over a period of almost 50 years (1889-1939) of attempting to treat patients who suffered with mental problems.
In the past 70 years or so, infant and child research, and new discoveries in adults have led to further modification of theory.
During psychoanalytic treatment, the patient tells the analyst various thoughts and feelings.
The analyst listens carefully, formulates, then intervenes to attempt to help the patient develop insight into unconscious factors causing the problems.
The specifics of the analyst's interventions typically include confronting and clarifying the patient's pathological defenses, wishes and guilt.
Through the analysis of resistance (unconscious barriers to treatment), and transference to the analyst of expectations, psychoanalysis aims to unearth wishes and emotions from prior unresolved conflicts, in order to help the patient perceive and resolve lingering problems.
(This article needs additional citations for verification).
Gestalt Therapy is an existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation.
It emphasizes personal responsibility.
Gestalt Therapy was co-founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s–1950s.
Edwin Nevis described gestalt therapy as "...a conceptual and methodological base from which helping professionals can craft their practice" (Nevis, E., 2000, p.3).
In the same volume Joel Latner asserted that gestalt therapy is built around two central ideas: that the most helpful focus of psychology is the experiential present moment and that everyone is caught in webs of relationships; thus, it is only possible to know ourselves against the background of our relation to other things (Latner, 2000).
The historical development (see below) of gestalt therapy shows the influences that have resulted in these two foci.
Expanded, they result in the four chief theoretical constructs (see below under the theory and practice section) that comprise gestalt theory and guide the practice and application of gestalt therapy.
Gestalt therapy was forged from various influences in the times and lives of the founders: physics, Eastern religion, existential phenomenology, gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, theatrical performance, systems and field theory (Mackewn, 1997).
Gestalt therapy rose from its beginnings in the middle of the 20th century to rapid and widespread popularity during the decade of the 1960s and early 1970s.
During the 70s and 80s gestalt therapy training centers spread globally, but they were, for the most part, not aligned with formal academic settings.
As the cognitive revolution eclipsed gestalt therapy in psychology, many came to believe gestalt was an anachronism.
In the hands of gestalt practitioners gestalt therapy became an applied discipline in the fields of psychotherapy, organizational development, social action, and eventually coaching.
Until the turn of the century gestalt therapists disdained the positivism underlying what they perceived to be the concern of research, and so, largely, ignored the need to utilize research to further develop gestalt therapy theory and support gestalt therapy practice.
That has begun to change.
Gestalt therapy focuses more on process (what is happening) than content (what is being discussed). The emphasis is on what is being done, thought and felt at the moment rather than on what was, might be, could be, or should be.
Gestalt therapy is a method of awareness, by which perceiving, feeling, and acting are understood to be separate from interpreting, explaining and judging using old attitudes.
This distinction between direct experience and indirect or secondary interpretation is developed in the process of therapy.
The client learns to become aware of what they are doing psychologically and how they can change it.
By becoming aware of and transforming their process they develop self acceptance and the ability to experience more in the "now" without so much interference from baggage of the past.
The objective of Gestalt Therapy, in addition to helping the client overcome symptoms, is to enable him or her to become more fully and creatively alive and to be free from the blocks and unfinished issues that may diminish optimum satisfaction, fulfillment, and growth.
Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is a method of psychotherapy based strictly on Gestalt psychology.
It was developed by the German Gestalt psychologist and psychotherapist Hans-Jürgen P. Walter and his colleagues in Germany and Austria.
One of the most striking characteristics of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is the key role of the epistemological grounding position of Gestalt theory (critical realism) and its applicability to the fundamental, theoretical and practical problems in psychotherapy.
In Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy this is closely bound up with the basic methodological approach (holistic, phenomenological, experimental) of Gestalt theory, its system theoretical approach, and its specific psychophysical and psychological approach.
Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is related to but different from Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy in its theoretical foundation.
Group Analysis is a method of group psychotherapy originated by S. H. Foulkes in the 1940s’.
Group work was perhaps born of the need to deal economically and efficiently with a large body of returning soldiers with shared problems, but it soon developed into a much broader form in which individuals were given the freedom to speak about their experiences - to tell their tale.
Group Analysis combines psychoanalytic insights with an understanding of social and interpersonal functioning.
There is an interest, in group analysis, on the relationship between the individual group member and the rest of the group resulting in a strengthening of both, and a better integration of the individual with his or her community, family and social network.
Deriving from psychoanalysis, Group Analysis also draws on a range of other psychotherapeutic traditions and approaches: systems theory psychotherapies, developmental psychology and social psychology.
From this emerges a powerful psychotherapeutic technique.
Group Analysis also has applications in organisational consultancy, and in teaching and training.
Group Analysts work in a wide range of contexts with a wide range of difficulties and problems.
Group Analysis (or group analytic psychotherapy) is an established form of group psychotherapy based on the view that deep lasting change can occur within a carefully formed group whose combined membership reflects the wider norms of society.
Group Analysis is a way of understanding group processes in small, median or, large groups.
It is concerned with the relationship between a person and the network of activity in the many groups of which he or she might belong.
Through these group processes we can explore what bearing the public and private aspects of a person’s life have on one another, and the dialectic between group and personal development.
Group members are supported, through shared experience and joint exploration within the group, in coming to a healthier understanding of their situation.
Problems are seen at the level of group, organisation or institutional system; not solely in the individual sufferer, as they do in prevailing medical models.
Problems within are recast as obstacles without.
The way in which the group functions is central to this.
Democracy and co-operation are the pillars through which group-mediated solutions to problems can flow in ways that are enduring.
It is based on the principles developed by S.H. Foulkes in the 1940's and is rooted in psychoanalysis and the social sciences.
Group Analysis is the dominant psychodynamic approach outside the United States and Canada.
It is an approach that views the group as an organic entity and insists that the therapist take a less intrusive role, so as to become the group's conductor (as in music) rather than its director.
The group is seen as not merely a dynamic entity of its own, but functions within a sociocultural context that influences its processes.
In group analytic technique, the therapist weans the members from excessive and inappropriate dependency towards becoming their own therapists — both to themselves and to the other group members.
The Group Analytic Society and the Institute of Group Analysis were organisations established by Foulkes and others to promote group Analysis and to train practitioners.
(This article does not cite any references or sources: August 2007).
Re:An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling - 2007/11/16 05:32An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling For Mental Health/Depression: Integral Thought (This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. It is unrelated to the concept of an integral in calculus. It is also unrelated to Integralism, a right-wing political philosophy):
Integral thought (also called the integral paradigm, the integral movement, integral philosophy, the integral worldview, or the integral approach) is a New Age movement that seeks a comprehensive understanding of humans and the universe by combining scientific and spiritual insights.
The movement originates with the California Institute of Integral Studies founded in 1968 by Haridas Chaudhuri, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo.
A notable current proponent is Ken Wilber.
Integral thought is claimed to provide "a new understanding of how evolution affects the development of consciousness and culture".
According to the Integral Transformative Practice website, integral means "dealing with the body, mind, heart, and soul."
Integral thought is seen by proponents as going beyond rationalism and materialism.
It attempts to introduce a more universal and holistic perspective or approach.
Proponents view rationalism as subordinating, ignoring, and/or denying spirituality.
Wilber begins by acknowledging and validating mystical experience, rather than denying its reality.
As these experiences have occurred to humans in all cultures in all eras, integral theorists accept them as valuable and not pathological.
(This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. It is unrelated to the concept of an integral in calculus. It is also unrelated to Integralism, a right-wing political philosophy).
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Re:An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling - 2007/11/16 18:24An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling For Mental Health/Depression: Holotropic Breathwork: (This article is missing citations or needs footnotes):
Holotropic Breathwork is a psychotherapeutic approach developed by Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D. and Christina Grof, believed to allow access to nonordinary states of consciousness.
Holotropic breathing has some similarities to rebirthing, but was developed independently.
Holotropic Breathwork is used by practitioners as an approach to self-exploration and healing that integrates insights from modern consciousness research, anthropology, various depth psychologies, transpersonal psychology, Eastern spiritual practices, and mystical traditions of the world.
The name Holotropic means "moving toward wholeness" (from the Greek "holos"=whole and "trepein"=moving in the direction of something).
The method comprises five elements: group process, intensified breathing (so-called hyperventilation), evocative music, focused body work, and expressive drawing.
The method's general effect is a non-specific amplification of a person's psychic process, which facilitates the psyche's natural capacity for healing.
Holotropic Breathwork is usually done in groups, although individual sessions are done. Within the groups, people work in pairs and alternate in the roles of experiencer ("breather") and "sitter".
The sitter's primary responsibility is to focus compassionate attention on the breather.
Secondarily, the sitter is available to assist the breather, but not to interfere or interrupt the process.
The same is true for trained facilitators, who are available as helpers if necessary.
Originally developed as an adjunct to LSD psychotherapy Holotropic Breathwork is an autonomous psychotherapeutic practice which, nevertheless, retains many of the clinical precautionary measures that were implemented in the medical use of LSD.
(This article is missing citations or needs footnotes).
Humanistic Psychology is a school of psychology that emerged in the 1950s in reaction to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
It is explicitly concerned with the human dimension of psychology and the human context for the development of psychological theory.
These matters are often summarized by the five postulates of Humanistic Psychology given by James Bugental (1964), mainly that:
*1: Human beings cannot be reduced to components.
*2: Human beings have in them a uniquely human context. *3:Human consciousness includes an awareness of oneself in the context of other people.
*4: Human beings have choices and non desired responsibilities.
*5: Human beings are intentional, they seek meaning, value and creativity.
The humanistic approach has its roots in existentialist thought (see Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre).
It is also sometimes understood within the concept of the three different forces of psychology; behaviorism, psychoanalysis and humanism.
Behaviorism grew out of Ivan Pavlov's work with the conditioned reflex, and laid the foundations for academic psychology in the United States associated with the names of John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner.
This school was later called the science of behavior. Abraham Maslow later gave behaviorism the name "the first force".
The "second force" came out of Freud's research of psychoanalysis, and the psychologies of Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Otto Rank, Melanie Klein, Harry Stack Sullivan, and others.
These theorists focused on the depth of the human psyche, which they stressed, must be combined with those of the conscious mind in order to produce a healthy human personality.
In the late 1950s, psychologists concerned with advancing a more holistic vision of psychology convened two meetings in Detroit, Michigan.
These psychological; including Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Clark Moustakas, were interested in founding a professional association dedicated to a psychology that focused on uniquely human issues, such as the self, self-actualization, health, hope, love, creativity, nature, being, becoming, individuality, and meaning – in short, the understanding of what it means to be human.
These preliminary meetings eventually led to other developments, which culminated in the description of humanistic psychology as a recognizable "third force" in psychology (along with behaviorism and psychoanalysis).
Significant developments included the launch of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 1961 and the formation of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP) in 1963.
Subsequently, graduate programs in Humanistic Psychology at institutions of higher learning grew in number and enrollment.
In 1971, humanistic psychology as a field was recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) and granted its own division (Division 32) within the APA.
Division 32 publishes its own academic journal called The Humanistic Psychologist (Aanstoos, Serlin & Greening, 2000).
The major theorists considered to have prepared the ground for Humanistic Psychology are Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Rollo May.
The work of Wilhelm Reich, who postulated an essentially 'good', healthy core self, in contrast to Freud, was an early influence, specially his Character Analysis (1933).
Other noteworthy inspirers and leaders of the movement include Roberto Assagioli, Gordon Allport, Medard Boss, Martin Buber, R. D. Laing, Fritz Perls, Anthony Sutich, Erich Fromm, Kurt Goldstein, Clark Moustakas, Lewis Mumford and James Bugental (Aanstoos, Serlin & Greening, 2000).
Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.
The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's (1843) term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system".
A person who is hypnotized displays certain unusual characteristics and propensities, compared with a non-hypnotized subject, most notably hyper-suggestibility, which some authorities have considered a sine qua non of hypnosis.
For example, Clark L. Hull, probably the first major empirical researcher in the field, wrote,
If a subject after submitting to the hypnotic procedure shows no genuine increase in susceptibility to any suggestions whatever, there seems no point in calling him hypnotised [...] (Hull, Hypnosis & Suggestion, 1933: 392)
Hypnotherapy is often applied in order to modify a subject's behavior, emotional content, and attitudes, as well as a wide range of conditions including dysfunctional habits, anxiety, stress-related illness, pain management, and personal development.
(This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality).
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Re:An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling - 2007/11/16 18:35An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling For Mental Health/Depression: (This article does not cite any references or sources: February 2007):
Human Givens Approach or Human givens Psychotherapy is an approach to psychology and psychotherapy.
It was developed from the organising idea that psychological understanding is best advanced by recognising that we have innate physical and emotional needs and that nature has given us resources to help fulfil them.
These needs have evolved over millions of years and are our common biological inheritance, whatever our cultural background.
This organising idea has produced improved ways of viewing and treating depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis and addiction.
The approach was developed by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell after the foundation of the European Therapy Studies Institute (ETSI) in 1992, the aim of which was to scientifically research why some psychotherapeautic techniques worked and why some didn't.
(This article does not cite any references or sources: February 2007).
“IBP Integrative Body Psychotherapy” was developed by Jack Lee Rosenberg, Ph.D., MFT. IBP was founded and developed by Jack Lee Rosenberg together with Diana Asay, a Jungian Analyst, and Marjorie Rand, Ph.D.and first presented as a therapeutic form in their book: "Body, Self and Soul - Sustaining Integration". (1985)
In 2007 there are 14 regional Institutes, covering the U.S.A., Canada and european countries (Switzerland, Germany, Belgium).
In Switzerland and Canada Integrative Body Psychotherapy IBP has received acceptance by the state authorities as the first method of body psychotherapy.
The different IBP Institutes are members of the U.S. Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP) , the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP)
IBP's approach is a holistic one, taking body, self and soul as inseparable aspects of our being human.
It focuses on the somatic, emotional, social, and spiritual energetic experience, and the way these are expressed in relationships through words and embodiment.
The basic concepts used in this therapeutic style are: Body-awareness, Core or True Self (self psychology), Breath, Grounding, Containment, Boundaries (see Gestalt therapy), Fragmentation and Reframing-composition, Issue of Sexuality, Current Situation, Here and Now, Transference and Counter transference in the therapeutic relationship.
The concepts of Secret Themes, Character Style, (other) Agency and Self Agency Daniel Stern were developed later with Beverly Morse Ph.D and integrated into IBP. Release of tension and transpersonal aspects round off the "core bug".
The aim is to create a greater and smoother sense of wholeness both within oneself, with others and existentially with the cosmic powers that be.
Rosenberg first brought his mind-body psychology to dentists in the early 1960's, later he brought body-mind integration to psychotherapists and counsellors.
Rosenberg has integrated the effective aspects of Psychoanalysis, Object Relations Theory, Gestalt therapy, Reichian therapy, Self Psychology, Bioenergetics (Bioenergetic analysis), Transpersonal Psychotherapy, Yoga and Eastern theories and practices.
He synthesized the best of these various approaches with his own personal perspective and created a highly effective implementation for psychotherapy.
Jack Rosenberg became a training therapist and board member at the Gestalt Institute of Psychotherapy, San Francisco (1968-1976).
As a trainer at the Gestalt Institute in San Francisco for nine years, he first called his work Gestalt Body Psychotherapy (GBT) and only in the 1980s "Integrative Body Psychotherapy" after starting to write "Body, Self and Soul - Sustaining Integration" in 1979. Source: JACK LEE ROSENBERG, Celebrating a Master Psychotherapist.
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Re:An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling - 2007/11/16 18:39An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling For Mental Health/Depression: Integral Thought (This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. It is unrelated to the concept of an integral in calculus. It is also unrelated to Integralism, a right-wing political philosophy):
Integral thought (also called the integral paradigm, the integral movement, integral philosophy, the integral worldview, or the integral approach) is a New Age movement that seeks a comprehensive understanding of humans and the universe by combining scientific and spiritual insights.
The movement originates with the California Institute of Integral Studies founded in 1968 by Haridas Chaudhuri, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo.
A notable current proponent is Ken Wilber.
Integral thought is claimed to provide "a new understanding of how evolution affects the development of consciousness and culture".[1]
According to the Integral Transformative Practice website, integral means "dealing with the body, mind, heart, and soul."
Integral thought is seen by proponents as going beyond rationalism and materialism.
It attempts to introduce a more universal and holistic perspective or approach. Proponents view rationalism as subordinating, ignoring, and/or denying spirituality.
Wilber begins by acknowledging and validating mystical experience, rather than denying its reality.
As these experiences have occurred to humans in all cultures in all eras, integral theorists accept them as valuable and not pathological.
(This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. It is unrelated to the concept of an integral in calculus. It is also unrelated to Integralism, a right-wing political philosophy).
Initially, Sigmund Freud developed a talking cure called psychoanalysis; then he wrote about his therapy and popularized psychoanalysis.
After Freud, many different disciplines splintered off.
Some of the more common therapies include: psychoanalytic psychotherapy, counseling, co-counseling, analysis, transactional analysis, cognitive behavioral therapy, gestalt therapy, body psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, family systems therapy, person-centered psychotherapy, and existential therapy.
Over two hundred different acknowledged theories of psychotherapy are practiced.[citation needed]
A new therapy is born in several stages.
After being trained in an existing school of psychotherapy, the therapist begins to practice.
Then, after follow up training in other schools, the therapist may combine the different theories as a basis of a new practice.
Then, some practitioners write about their new approach and label this approach with a new name.
This overall pattern has been observed in numerous new therapies and is certain to form many future therapies.
A pragmatic or a theoretical approach can be taken when fusing schools of psychotherapy.
Pragmatic practitioners blend a few strands of theory from a few schools as well as various techniques; such practitioners are sometimes called eclectic psychotherapists and are primarily concerned with what works.
Alternatively, other therapists consider themselves to be more theoretically grounded as they blend their theories; they are called integrated psychotherapists and are not only concerned with what works, but why it works.
For example an eclectic therapist might experience a change in their client after administering a particular technique and be satisfied with a positive result.
In contrast, an integrative therapist is curious about the "why and how" of the change as well.
A theoretical emphasis is important; for example, the client may only have been trying to please the therapist and was adapting to the therapist rather than becoming more fully empowered in themselves.
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is a form of short-term psychotherapy developed through empirical research by Habib Davanloo MD.
Its primary goal is to help the patient overcome internal resistance to experiencing true feelings about the present and past which have been warded off because they are either too frightening or else too painful.
The technique is intensive in that it aims to help the patient experience these warded-off feelings to the maximum degree possible.
It is short-term in that it tries to achieve this experience as quickly as possible.
It is dynamic because it imvolves working with unconscious forces and transference feelings.
Patients come to therapy because of either symptoms or interpersonal difficulties.
Symptoms include traditional psychological problems like anxiety and depression, but they also include medically unexplained symptoms (e.g. headache, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, sudden weakness) which occur in distressing situations where painful or forbidden emotions are triggered outside of awareness.
The therapy itself was developed during the 1960s to 1990s by Dr. Habib Davanloo, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst from Montreal who grew frustrated with the lengthiness and relatively limited efficacy of psychoanalysis.
He began video recording patient interviews and watching the recordings in minute detail to determine as precisely as possible what sorts of interventions were most effective in overcoming resistance.
In addition to numerous articles, his principal texts are Unlocking the Unconscious (Wiley, 1990) and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (Wiley, 2001).
In 1895, Breuer and Sigmund Freud published their "Studies on Hysteria", which looked at a series of cases where patients presented with very dramatic neurological symptoms.
These symptoms did not conform to known patterns of neuroanatomical disease, and neurologists of the day were thus quite mystified.
Breuer's breakthrough was the discovery that symptomatic relief could be brought about by encouraging patients to simply speak freely about emotionally difficult aspects of their lives.
It was not just the talk, though; it was also the experience of emotions, previously outside of awareness, which seemed curative.
This cure became known as catharsis, and the experiencing of the previously forbidden or painful emotion was abreaction.
Freud tried various techniques to deal with the fact that patients were, quite naturally, resistant to experiencing painful feelings.
He moved from hypnosis to waking suggestion, and finally to free association and dream interpretation.
With each step, therapy became longer and longer. Furthermore, as Freud and the early analysts encountered ever more difficult cases, they realised that the patient's degree of resistance could actually be quite profound.
Freud himself was quite open about the possibility that there were many patients for whom analysis could bring little or no relief, and he discusses the factors in his 1937 paper "Analysis Terminable and Interminable."
From the 1930s through the 1950s, numerous analysts were engaged with the question of how to shorten the course of therapy but still achieve therapeutic effectiveness.
These included Sándor Ferenczi, Franz Alexander, Peter Sifneos, David Malan, and Habib Davanloo.
One of the first discoveries was that the patients who tended to benefit the most greatly from therapy were those who could rapidly engage, could describe a specific therapeutic focus, and could quickly move to an experience of their previously warded-off feelings.
These also happened to represent those patients who were the healthiest to begin with and therefore had the least need for the therapy being offered.
Clinical research revealed that these patients were able to benefit because they were the least resistant.
They were the least resistant because they were the least traumatised and therefore had the smallest burden of repressed emotion.
However, among the patients coming to the clinic for various problems, the rapid responders represented only a small minority.
What could be offered to those who represented the vast bulk of patients coming for treatment?
It became commonly recognised among the short-term dynamic researchers that overcoming resistance was the chief task of psychotherapeutic research.
Toward this end, Dr. David Malan first conceptualised a model of resistance, known as the "Triangle of Conflict". At the bottom of the triangle are the patient's true impulse-laden feelings, outside of conscious awareness.
When those emotions rise to a certain degree and threaten to break into conscious awareness, they trigger anxiety.
The patient manages this anxiety by deploying defences, which lessen anxiety by pushing emotions back into the unconscious.
The emotions at the bottom of Malan's Triangle of Conflict originate in the patient's past, and Malan's second triangle, the "Triangle of Persons", explains that old emotions generated from the past are triggered in current relationships and also get triggered in the relationship with the therapist.
But how is it that people end up with painful emotions in the first place which they ward out of awareness?
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Re:An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling - 2007/11/16 18:44An List Of: Talking Therapies/Counselling For Mental Health/Depression: Internal Family Systems Model: (This article does not cite any references or sources: April 2007):
The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) is an integrative approach to psychotherapy, relationship counseling, and family therapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D.
It combines systems thinking and multiplicity of the mind, and applies the theories of family therapy to the intrapsychic world of subpersonalities.
(This article does not cite any references or sources: April 2007).
Interpersonal Psychoanalysis is based on the theories of Harry Stack Sullivan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Stack_Sullivan , an American psychiatrist who believed that the details of patient's interpersonal interactions with others provided insight into the causes and cures of mental disorder.[1][2]
Sullivan argued that patients keep many aspects of interpersonal relationships out of their awareness by selective inattention.
He felt that it to be important for psychotherapists to conduct a detailed inquiry into patient's interactions with others so that patients would become optimally aware of their interpersonal patterns.
Unlike classical psychoanalysts, interpersonal analysts focus on asking patients detailed questions about their moment-to-moment interactions with others, including the analyst.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a time-limited psychotherapy that was developed in the 1970s and 80s as an outpatient treatment for adults who were diagnosed with moderate or severe non-delusional depression.[1]
It has its roots in the interpersonal theory of psychiatry of Harry Stack Sullivan.
Over the last 30 years, a number of empirical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of IPT in the treatment of depression.[2] Although originally developed as an individual therapy for adults, IPT has been modified for use with adolescents and older adults, bipolar disorder, bulimia, post-partum depression and couples counseling;[3] and although IPT has its roots in psychodynamic theory, it takes its cues from contemporary cognitive behavioral approaches both in that it is time-limited and also in its use of homework, structured interviews and assessment tools.[4]
Interpersonal therapy was first developed as a theoretical placebo for the use in psychotherapy research by Gerald Klerman, et al.
IPT was, however, found to be quite effective in the treatment of several psychological problems.
IPT is based on the belief that psychological problems are due to communication problems, which are formed due to attachment styles.
Carl Gustav Jung (IPA: [ˈkarl ˈgʊstaf ˈjʊŋ]) (July 26, 1875, Kesswil – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology.
Jung's unique and broadly influential approach to psychology has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy.
Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician for most of his life, much of his life's work was spent exploring other realms, including Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, sociology, as well as literature and the arts.
His most notable contributions include his concept of the psychological archetype, the collective unconscious, and his theory of synchronicity.
Jung emphasized the importance of balance and harmony.
He cautioned that modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious realm.
Developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy is considered the "third Viennese school of psychotherapy"[citation needed] after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology.
It is a type of Existential Analysis that focuses on a "will to meaning" as opposed to Adler's Nietzschian doctrine of "will to power" or Freud's of "will to pleasure".
The following list of tenets represents Frankl's basic beliefs regarding the philosophy of Logotherapy:
*Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
*Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
*We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.
A short introduction to this system is given in Frankl's most famous book, "Man's Search for Meaning", in which he outlines how his theories helped him to survive his Holocaust experience and how that experience further developed and reinforced his theories.
The human spirit is referred to in several of the assumptions of Logotherapy, but it should be noted that the use of the term spirit is not "spiritual" or "religious.
" In Frankl's view, the spirit is the will of the human being. The emphasis, therefore, is on the search for meaning, not the search for God or any other supernatural being. Frankl also noted the barriers to humanity's quest for meaning in life.
He warns against "...affluence, hedonism, [and] materialism..." in the search for meaning.
Relationship counseling is the process of counseling the parties of a relationship in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress.
The relationship involved may be between members of a family, couples, employees or employers in a workplace, or between a professional and a client.
History:
Relationship counseling as a discrete, professional service is a recent phenomenon.
Until the late 20th century, the work of relationship counseling was informally fulfilled by close friends, family members, or local religious leaders.
Psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and social workers have historically dealt primarily with individual psychological problems.
In many less technologically advanced cultures around the world today, the institution of family, the village or group elders fulfill the work of relationship counseling.
Today marriage mentoring mirrors those cultures.
With increasing modernization or westernization in many parts of the world and the continuous shift towards isolated nuclear families, the old support structures are no longer there and the need for relationship counseling is greater than ever.
In western society the trend is towards trained relationship counselors; these are often volunteers who wish to help others, and are trained by either the Government or social service institutions to help those who are in need of counseling.
Many communities and government departments have their own team of trained voluntary or professional relationship counselors.
Similar services are operated by many universities and colleges, often staffed by volunteers from among the student peer group.
Some large companies maintain a full-time professional counseling staff to facilitate smoother interactions between corporate employees, to minimize the negative effects that personal difficulties might have on work performance.
(This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards).
The integrative Milieu Model, developed by Kevin F. McCready, is an alternative treatment regime to the medical model of psychiatry for treating people suffering from psychological distress.
A central part of the anti-psychiatry movement, being a close friend of Peter Breggin and a board member of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, McCready based his model on the idea that human psychological suffering is not caused by a physiological disease or a chemical imbalance, but by a compromise to a person's humanity.
He believed that the biomedical model of psychiatry was a compromise to a person's humanity, stripping its patients from elements he considers to be a necessary and natural part of human life experience.
This model of treatment combined elements from psychodynamic theories, particularly the theories of Carl G. Jung; humanism; and existentialism[1].
The integrative milieu model's approach is one which attempts to create a new community for its participants to interact within.
This community is based on four main ideas:
*The milieu must be a therapeutic container which allows an intensive exploration of the personal and collective psyche.
*It must therefore have a structure which maintains continuity and a sense of security.
*The professionals who work to maintain the structure of the container must be flexible to allow for the expected and the unexpected expression of self which comes in such an environment.
*The integration of all aspects of the human experience must be not only allowed to be expressed and explored, but must be encouraged to be expressed and explored.
*This means that all aspects of humanity must be made part of the integrative milieu, including such things as play, art, music, discussion, and intimacy [2].
*A respect for the human being's sense of self-direction.
All patients within the milieu are expected to behave in a responsible, respectful manner. McCready believed that the expectations which are part of a community's fundamental philosophy play a significant role in the corresponding behavior of those who are part of the community.
