Psychodynamic therapies focus on the unconscious, while the supportive therapies concentrate on conscious thought processes. Some of the main forms practiced include:
Psychodynamic therapies:
- Freudian psychotherapy: (psychoanalysis) seek to uncover childhood sexual conflicts through the analysis of dreams.
- Jungian psychotherapy: uses elements of mythology, symbols and dreams to probe the mind.
- Adlerian psychotherapy: fosters self-confidence by overcoming feelings of inferiority rooted in childhood.
- Kleinian psychotherapy: focuses on early childhood experiences.
- Humanistic psychotherapy: concentrates on spiritual growth potential, looking forwards not back.
- Rogerian psychotherapy: client-centered and on judgmental, and assumes the patient is best able to deal with personal problems.
- Gestalt psychotherapy: emphasizes integrating all aspects of experience, encouraging the patient to develop full awareness of the present moment.
Supportive therapies:
- Cognitive therapy: aimed to replace negative thought patterns with more logical and realistic ones.
- Behavioral therapy: focuses on the immediate problem and the circumstances surrounding it.
- Rational-emotive therapy: sues logic, authority, and persuasion to help the patient give up irrational ideas or unreasonable expectations.
- Transactional analysis: examines the different roles a person plays in life (such as ‘child’ or ‘parent’) and helps the person develop a more realistic, constructive attitude.
- Counseling: often directed at specific problems – such as bereavement – and involves listening to clients and helping them to understand their problems.
- Co-counseling: involves an equal relationship between two people, who take it turns to talk and listen.
Other Therapies:
- Group therapy: valuable where interpersonal difficulties are a key part of the problem.
- Family therapy: used where therapy directed at just one member of the family and may not resolve matters.
- Art therapy: involves painting, drawing or sculpture to express emotions associated with a problem.
- Neurolinguistics programming (NLP): looks at how we experience the world and applied this knowledge to alter behaviors that limit us.
- Life coaching: involves a personal coach who will help the individual to tackle specific problems. The coach discusses and monitors progress and set goals.
- Eclectic approaches: combine therapies to sit the individual’s character, circumstances and problem.