Information about Psychotherapy
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy involves talking about yourself and topics that are important to you with a psychotherapist.
What is a Psychotherapist?
A psychotherapist is someone who is a mental health professional. A mental health professional is someone who received professional training in psychotherapy and is licensed by the province. For example, psychiatrists receive professional training in medicine and provide psychotherapy and treatment with medication. Registered Psychologists receive professional training in psychotherapy and use different assessments to provide information about a person’s career interests, mental functioning, and personality. A Registered Provisional Psychologist is someone in the process of becoming a Registered Psychologist.
Psychotherapists do not read people’s minds and do not force people to change or do things that they do not want to do. Good psychotherapists are often accepting, attentive, caring, and non-judgmental. Many good psychotherapists support people in psychotherapy by helping people discover their goals and new ways of understanding their actions, emotions, thoughts, relationships, and social environment.
What is the Best Kind of Psychotherapy?
People can find the best kind of psychotherapy for themselves by talking to their doctors or physical health professionals, looking on the internet, or (if they feel comfortable) asking a friend or family member.
There are many kinds of approaches to psychotherapy. For example, psychotherapists may use approaches that explore their clients’ childhood experiences and/or social environments. Also, some psychotherapists may use approaches that help clients change how they behave, feel, and/or think.
Many people find that talking to a psychotherapist helps and the best kind of mental health treatment is one that meets the client’s goals and addresses the client’s concerns. With this in mind, people must look at how much they can pay, their insurance coverage, the location of the psychotherapist, how often they want to go to psychotherapy, and a psychotherapist who can create a treatment plan that works for their goals and needs.
How Effective is Psychotherapy?
Smith, Glass, and Miller (1980) looked at studies that compared patients who received psychotherapy to patients who did not. Smith and his colleagues found that about 80% of patients who received psychotherapy were "better off" than patients who did not.
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Howard and his colleagues (1986, 1996) evaluated the length of psychotherapy to improved outcomes for people. Howard and colleagues found that 50% of people reduced their mental health symptoms around 6 to 8 sessions, 75% decreased their symptoms by 26 sessions, and 85% by 52 sessions.
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See the following references for more information:
Howard, K. I., Kopta, S. M., Krause, M. S., & Orlinsky, D. E. (1986). The dose-effect relationship in psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 41, 159-164.
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Howard, K. I., Moras, K., Brill, P. L., Martinovich, Z., & Lutz, W. (1996). Evaluation of psychotherapy: Efficacy, effectiveness, and patient progress. American Psychologist, 51(10), 1059-1064.
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Smith, M. L., Glass, G. V., & Miller, T. I. (1980). The benefits of psychotherapy. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.
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