What Is Psychotherapy and Is It Effective?
Jan 22, 2024
Whether you have depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, anger issues, or other mental health concerns, psychotherapy can help.
It is a proven and valuable treatment in your journey toward mental wellness.
We can say this confidently because we specialize in psychotherapy and other mental health treatments at Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry in Greenwich, Connecticut. Margaret Miller, DNP, Paroma Mitra, MD, and Kara Grayson, LCSW, work together to diagnose your condition and develop a personalized treatment plan that matches your needs, personality, and goals.
The term “psychotherapy" is often confusing, so we’re explaining how it works and why it’s a proven treatment.
Psychotherapy simply means “talk therapy.” It’s an approach to mental health that focuses on building a relationship between you and your therapist that revolves around conversations. Because of our training and experience, those conversations generate significant and lasting changes in your thought patterns.
Our primary goal with psychotherapy is to alleviate or manage distressing symptoms and enable you to function more effectively in your daily life.
There are several approaches to psychotherapy. At Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry, we offer multiple types, including the following:
This is the most widely used type of psychotherapy. With this method, we help you adjust your thought patterns, behaviors, and emotional responses. CBT is typically the first line of treatment for disorders like depression, anxiety, and phobias.
IPT focuses on your communication and how you relate to others. It’s effective if you’re grappling with depression or relationship problems.
A type of CBT, DBT regulates your emotions, especially when dealing with a severe emotional disorder. We frequently use it for treating borderline personality disorder and chronic suicidal ideation.
ACT helps you work on accepting your thoughts and feelings and view them objectively so they don’t control you. It uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, along with commitment and behavior-change techniques.
This therapy allows you to become — and embrace — the expert in your own life by telling your story. It separates you from your problems, helping you view them as separate entities.
This therapeutic approach enables you to understand and resolve the underlying issues and motivations behind your negative feelings and responses. We use insight-oriented psychotherapy if past experiences have been impacting your present behaviors.
If you have ADHD or are experiencing mental acuity issues, cognitive training can help. It consists of exercises that improve memory, attention, and cognitive abilities. We often combine it with other therapies.
But does psychotherapy work?
We can tell you from firsthand experience that it does.
However, there is no shortage of research on the topic, and all studies indicate that psychotherapy is generally as effective, if not more so, than medication for many mental health conditions.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, around 75% of people who participate in psychotherapy walk away with fewer symptoms and more control over how they function. They call in sick less often, have fewer medical issues, and are happy and satisfied with their lives.
Although those individual reports are encouraging, they aren’t the only measure of psychotherapy’s success. Researchers have studied the brains of people who have undergone psychotherapy and have recorded physical brain changes similar to those that occur through medication.
Of course, the effectiveness of psychotherapy largely depends on your specific mental health needs, and psychotherapy often works well with medication. Our Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry specialists help manage your medications to ensure your safety and make adjustments, so you get the maximum benefits and minimum side effects.
If you have a mental health issue and would like to find out if psychotherapy can help, book an appointment online or call Greenwich Avenue Psychiatry today.