September 25th is National Psychotherapy Day, a day to appreciate and raise awareness about the different types of psychotherapy out there. You may have considered seeking out therapy — whether because of someone else’s suggestion or your own musing — but not been sure where to start. You might also have preconceived notions about what therapy looks like.
The truth is, however, that there are as many forms of therapy as there are patients. Together with your therapist at Rivia Mind, you can find a treatment plan that works for you. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how that works as well as 9 different psychotherapy modalities that might be helpful for you.
How Does Therapy Work?
At Rivia Mind, therapy treatments begin with a biopsychosocial assessment. The therapist will ask you questions about your mental health history, including your history with therapy and any family history of mental illness. They may also ask about your upbringing and other life circumstances that might have impacted your mental health. They will also do an assessment on your mood and current psychological state.
After this assessment, they will recommend a treatment plan. This could be a combination of therapy and medication, or it could be simply therapy. Your input and comfort level will also come into play at this stage. You will then work with them to determine how frequently you should meet with them. This will depend on your therapist’s availability, as well as your availability and your needs. Your therapist may have a recommendation — for instance, they may say that you should start with weekly appointments and then eventually move to biweekly. But again, your input matters here, too.
Finally, your therapist will introduce you to the therapy modality that they plan to use, or the combination of modalities they intend to use. You may have done your own research on different therapy modalities and had a specific preference, seeking out a therapist with experience in that modality. If not, the therapist will recommend psychotherapy methods to you. They will set the expectations in terms of how long the therapy might take and what you will likely do each session.
9 Psychotherapy Modalities That You Can Try
That said, let’s get into the different modalities that your therapist might use. Keep in mind that they may utilize a mix of different modalities, or you may bring up a modality that interests you. Here are the psychotherapy modalities that Rivia Mind utilizes.
#1 - Supportive Therapy
Supportive therapy is probably the form of therapy that first comes to mind when you picture going to therapy. It involves going into your therapist’s office and speaking about daily life issues or mental health challenges that you might be facing. Your therapist can then help you process those challenges and help you plan to better tackle them in the future. This therapy is open ended, and may last for as long as you and the therapist feel that you need it. It is often recommended to patients dealing with depression or anxiety, or trouble with interpersonal or work matters.
#2 - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is an evidence-based therapy to help you break through the irrational thoughts that might be holding you back. CBT works by addressing the core beliefs or maladaptive thought patterns that influence your actions and therefore your behaviors. By reframing those thought patterns and reevaluating the core beliefs that might be warped, you can then change your behaviors.
CBT is done typically over a limited number of sessions, and your therapist will give you an idea at the beginning of how long they believe it will take.
#3 - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
DBT is a form of CBT which focuses on emotional impact on behavior and emotional regulation. It also helps patients to accept dialectics — two seemingly opposing things that can both be true (such as “my feelings are valid…and acting on my feelings at this moment might not be the right choice”).
In DBT, patients track their emotional triggers and how they respond to them, then come up with plans to cope with those triggers in a healthy way. DBT typically lasts for about a year, combining individual therapy sessions with group therapy where you will work with other patients in the DBT program as well as the group leader.
#4 - Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP is a form of exposure therapy which gently exposes you to thoughts, images, and ideas that make you anxious in a safe, therapy setting. After the exposure, you and your therapist work with “response prevention,” helping you not to default to your typical response to these triggering elements.
This form of therapy is often recommended for OCD, with a history of effectiveness when it comes to controlling compulsions. This begins as a guided practice, but eventually you will have homework in which you need to practice exposure and response prevention on your own.
#5 - Grief Counseling
Grief counseling is often recommended after the loss of a loved one, but it can also be recommended as a treatment for coping with grief over a major life change — such as the end of a long-term relationship, a sudden illness, etc. In grief counseling, you can speak openly to your counselor about your feelings of grief, thereby working to process and find meaning in that grief. You can also learn coping skills to help you manage your feelings of grief from the day-to-day.
#6 - Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET)
PET is an evidence-based exposure therapy modality often prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder. In PET, you learn how to reduce fear and avoidance through both imagined and in vivo (real life) experiences.
You begin by discussing with your therapist the avoidances you experience that are most disruptive to your life. After both imagined and in vivo experiences, you will reflect on how you felt and what you could do to further reduce fear in the future. This is done at your pace, and your therapist will not push you to expose yourself to something you are not ready for.
#7 - Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is another evidence-based talk therapy, this time one that focuses on gaining a greater sense of self-awareness and understanding. In better understanding yourself, you can understand your behaviors and even manage them more effectively. You and your therapist will probe deep into insights about your thought processes and emotions. This therapy will last for as long as you feel that it’s needed, since self-understanding is often a lengthy process.
#8 - Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy takes a trauma-informed approach to your behavior and thought patterns. There are many different forms of trauma therapy. For instance, CBT can be a trauma therapy. Another form of trauma therapy includes eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. EMDR involves processing your traumatic memories as your therapist guides you through an eye movement exercise, until those memories cease to be as triggering for you. The form of your trauma therapy will depend on what works best for you.
#9 - Group Therapy
Group therapy is a kind of therapy where one or more therapists treat a small group of patients together as a group. Group therapy provide a number of benefits such as support, role modeling and encouragement. At Rivia Mind, we are thrilled to offer ADHD group therapy and DBT group therapy year round. Explore each page to learn more and sign-up.
Rivia Mind’s skilled and compassionate clinicians are here to support you whatever your therapy needs might be. Contact us today to learn more about any of these psychotherapy modalities or to find a provider and get started.
