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People often bandy around words such as CBT, psychodynamic- or exposure therapy. If these terms leave you confused and puzzled, you’re not alone. Here is list of commonly used terms and what they mean.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): (originally developed by Aaron Beck)
This is a short-term structured therapy using active collaboration between patient and therapist in order to reach the therapeutic goals. This treatment approach is based on the theory that one’s feelings and behaviour are controlled by how one thinks and perceives one's world.
In cognitive-behavioural therapy, discussions between the patient and the therapist are not usually focused on the patient's past, as is the case with some forms of psychotherapy. Instead, conversations focus on the difficulties and successes the patient is having at the present time, skills the patient needs to learn as well as the identification and challenging of negative thought processes and beliefs.
This form of therapy is particularly helpful for people with anxiety disorders. Treatment is relatively short, lasting up to 25 sessions.
Exposure Therapy:
A form of CBT commonly used with people suffering from phobias. The therapist gradually exposes patients to what frightens them and helps them cope with their fears.
Analytic or Psychodynamic Therapy: (developed by Freud, Kohut, Jacobson and Abraham)
Various forms of talk therapy all based on older, traditional Freudian therapies. Usually longer term, focusing on insight into the past and/or resolving internal conflicts. It takes into account the effects that emotions and unconscious material can have on human behaviour.
These longer term traditional therapies are often helpful for more complicated personality disorders. It is usually open-ended and is often less interactive.
Interpersonal Therapy: (developed by Gerald Klerman)
These are a modern, shorter term version of analytic therapies. The focus is on interpersonal problems and patterns. The therapy is based on the idea that disturbed social or personal relationships may cause or precipitate a mental illness. The illness, in turn impacts negatively on the relationships, which then further exacerbates the illness. It was iriginally created to treat depression. The interpersonal therapy programme usually consists of 12-16 weekly sessions.
Group Therapy:
These can vary widely in many ways. From having very active trained leaders, to being led by fellow group members. They can be supportive, educational, deal with mixed problems, or specialise in very specific problems. They can be used alone or together with individual therapy. There advantages are that they can often be more affordable than individual therapy, and can serve as a place to work on interpersonal problems, practice communication skills, and deal with social anxiety.
Play Therapy:
Play therapy is a technique used for establishing communication and resolving problems with young children.
Family Therapy:
Family therapy involves discussions and problem solving sessions with every member of a family, sometimes with the entire group, sometimes with individuals. It is helpful in identifying negative interactions within a family and the role of the entire family in maintaining the patient’s symptoms.
Couple Therapy:
Couple therapy aims to develop a more rewarding relationship; and minimise problems through understanding how individual conflicts get expressed in the couple's interactions.
