“What exactly is talk therapy?”
My brother is seeing a psychologist and he was recently telling me that he wants to ask his psych about talk therapy. What is its purpose?
1 Answer
Hi,
Thank you for your question. "Talk therapy" is when a therapist (psychologist, psychiatrist, marital and family therapist, clinical social worker) meets with a client on a consistent basis (usually about 1x/week) to explore the impact of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors on the person's life. Exploring how the client thinks and feels, examining avoidances, discussing past experiences, and focusing on relationships helps them notice patterns that can be helpful to become aware of so they can change anything unhelpful or maladaptive.
There are lots of different kinds of "talk therapy" including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), family systems, psychodynamic or psychoanalytic, humanistic-existential therapy, group therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, play and art therapy, interpersonal therapy, mindfulness-based therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), motivational interviewing, and life coaching.
Almost anyone can benefit from talk therapy as it is designed to help a person deal with a variety of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, trauma, eating disorders, substance abuse, personality disorders, relationship problems, stress management, anger and irritability, ADHD, behavioral issues, adjustment issues, etc.
I hope this information has been helpful!
Best,
Jenna Torres, PsyD
Thank you for your question. "Talk therapy" is when a therapist (psychologist, psychiatrist, marital and family therapist, clinical social worker) meets with a client on a consistent basis (usually about 1x/week) to explore the impact of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors on the person's life. Exploring how the client thinks and feels, examining avoidances, discussing past experiences, and focusing on relationships helps them notice patterns that can be helpful to become aware of so they can change anything unhelpful or maladaptive.
There are lots of different kinds of "talk therapy" including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), family systems, psychodynamic or psychoanalytic, humanistic-existential therapy, group therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, play and art therapy, interpersonal therapy, mindfulness-based therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), motivational interviewing, and life coaching.
Almost anyone can benefit from talk therapy as it is designed to help a person deal with a variety of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, trauma, eating disorders, substance abuse, personality disorders, relationship problems, stress management, anger and irritability, ADHD, behavioral issues, adjustment issues, etc.
I hope this information has been helpful!
Best,
Jenna Torres, PsyD
