Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a treatment of psychological nature that uses psychological methods, above all through regular personal interaction between the professional and the person being helped, in order to change behaviour, increase well-being and overcome problems. The word comes from the Greek psyche (breath, spirit, soul) and therapeia (healing or treatment). In its early use the term referred to treatments based on hypnotic suggestion, but over time it came to describe a broad set of verbal and relational interventions. Many people know it as talk therapy, although not all of its forms depend on spoken language: play therapy, for example, is used with children and with people with intellectual disability and places more weight on non-verbal expression.

As its main proponents understand it, psychotherapy is defined by its deliberate character and by the application of clinical methods derived from established psychological principles. Its aim is for the person to modify their behaviour, thoughts, emotions or personal traits in a direction they themselves regard as desirable. Some schools, such as psychoanalysis, concentrate on interpreting the past and the unconscious; others, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, on identifying and changing patterns of thought and behaviour in the present; and others, such as humanistic therapy, on personal growth and on the quality of the relationship between therapist and client. Within this diversity, Michael Balint's focal psychotherapy works on a single problem over a brief period; William Glasser's reality therapy focuses on what the person can change now; Gestalt therapy, rooted in the work of Fritz Perls, attends to present experience, the body and the emotions; and Paul Federn's supportive therapy seeks to strengthen the patient's ego.

In practice the field is highly heterogeneous, with hundreds of techniques, some only minor variations and others grounded in very different views of the mind. It can be applied to individuals, couples, families or groups, and practitioners may be psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical social workers or other qualified professionals, depending on the country. Its general effectiveness is well documented, though it varies by person and condition, and debate continues about how to evaluate outcomes: randomised controlled trials are useful but do not always capture the uniqueness of each therapeutic process. Some recent reviews note that many therapies, although different in technique, produce similar results, which has drawn attention to common factors such as the therapeutic alliance. Current challenges include early dropout, which can range from about a third to more than half of cases, limited understanding of how change occurs, and the need to ensure therapists follow treatment protocols faithfully. Psychotherapy is now also delivered remotely and with digital support, raising new questions about privacy and the quality of the relationship.