What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is the treatment of emotional and behavioural issues by encouraging insight into problems in order to relieve symptoms and create a change in behaviour. Going through the therapy process changes people's feelings about themselves and their situations, and they become happier, more self-confident, and more effective in their day-to-day living.
It is considered that there are three key approaches in human psychology:
Behaviourist | Focuses on reinforcement of stimulus-response behaviour. |
Psychodynamic | Assumes subconscious irrational and instinctive forces that determine human thought and behaviour. |
Humanistic | Emphasises the study of the whole person not only from the viewpoint of an objective impartial observer, but seeks to empathetically understand what it’s like to be that person. It assumes a free will to make choices and to accept consequences for decisions made. The approach is optimistic and focuses on the human capacity to overcome adversity. |
My methods are largely humanistic as I believe we all seek to better ourselves and our environment and, that we can all achieve personal growth and satisfaction in our lives as we learn to better understand and accept ourselves.
It is important to acknowledge however, the psychodynamic element in our subconscious needs and motivations; our use of defence and behaviours which may protect us, but which hold us back at the same time.
Using our self-awareness and free will, we can look more objectively within ourselves. This allows us to create the positive choices for change that we seek. In this way, we grow and move forward. We set ourselves free to become who we really want to be!
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