How Does Psychotherapy Help People Recover?
As defined by the American Psychiatry Association, "Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a way to help people with a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms so a person can function better and can increase well-being and healing.”
Nine out of ten Americans surveyed by Consumer Reports said that psychotherapy had helped them. In a landmark national study, half of the clients studied were making positive progress after eight sessions of therapy, 75% after six months of therapy. Psychotherapy offers people the opportunity to identify the factors that contribute to their frustrations and to deal effectively with the psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and situational causes.
Skilled therapists can work with individuals to:
- Identify the stressors that contribute to their dilemmas and to understand which aspects of those problems they may be able to solve or improve.
- Learn effective, positive ways to deal with mental health diagnoses and/or stress.
- Help regain a sense of control and pleasure in life.
- Cultivate a more peaceful and authentic way of being.
- Work through past adversities, including traumas, that continue to create problems in everyday life.
