Online Coaching and Psychotherapy

• In Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, the focus is on the person’s conscious and unconscious assumptions about relationships and how these are played out with the therapist. So past experiences resurface and can be thought about in a live way.
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy is an exploratory psychotherapy which seeks to go beyond short term support or symptom relief to a deeper understanding of the whole person.
• The therapist listens and lets the person in therapy set the agenda.
• The therapist avoids imposing his / her own view, and the person is asked in turn to live with the uncertainty this can bring.
• Outcome studies of different therapeutic modalities support the claim that the crucial factor differentiating successful from unsuccessful therapy is not the particular therapeutic model as such but the quality of the therapeutic relationship between patient and therapist, an issue of central focus in psychodynamic psychotherapy.

• Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapy can be used in a wide variety of conditions in which people have emotional or relationship difficulties and is not aimed at specific disorders.
• The wish for self-understanding, the willingness to tolerate uncertainty, and the readiness to consider another point of view, are some of the necessary ingredients.
• People benefiting from this form of therapy often have difficulties in relationships or in handling the pressures of everyday living.
• Some people also have disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and psychotic conditions or are struggling with self-harm.
• Many have additionally been affected by psychological, physical or sexual abuse.
• Outpatient psychotherapy is not appropriate for people who are habitually violent, actively psychotic, actively suicidal or highly addicted to alcohol or other substances
• For patients with more focused therapeutic needs and less interest in the exploratory aspects of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) might be more suitable.

• The frequency and duration of therapy varies according to clinical need and availability of resources.
• Individual therapy usually lasts from 6 months to 3 years. Depending on the nature of the problem and the needs of the client, individual therapy can last many years.
• Group therapy typically lasts between for 18 months to 3 years.
• Therapy can take place between 1 and 5 times a week. Therapy held 3 or 4 times a week or more is usually called psychoanalysis as opposed to psychoanalytic (or psychodynamic) psychotherapy.
• Individual sessions last for 50 minutes, and group sessions for 1.5 hours
• Sessions can vary in frequency from once a week psychotherapy to four times a week psychoanalysis.

• Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps patients to understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors.
• CBT is commonly used to treat a wide range of disorders, including phobias, addiction, depression and anxiety.
• CBT is generally short-term and focused on helping clients deal with specific problems.
• During the course of treatment, people learn how to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on behavior.

• The underlying concept behind CBT is that our thoughts and feelings play a fundamental role in our behavior. For example, a person who spends a lot of time thinking about plane crashes, runway accidents and other air disasters may find themselves avoiding air travel.
• The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach patients that while they cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with things in their environment.

CBT works by helping people understand their thoughts and the way they influence behaviour.

To start with, the therapist will work with you to assess current thought patterns. These often include cognitive distortions, which contribute to symptoms.

For example, many mental health conditions involve a degree of mental filtering. This happens when we focus all our thoughts on the negative aspects of a situation and struggle to see any positives.

Understanding current thought patterns is an essential first step. Once you have developed this understanding, the therapist can help you with the next two steps:

1. Challenging and replacing the distorted thoughts with more constructive thoughts.
2. Changing how you behave in response to any triggers.

This is what makes CBT so effective. It enables people to develop an understanding of their disorder, and then take positive steps to change it.

This is a powerful combination — and one that works.

Cognitive behaviour therapy has many benefits over other forms of therapy when it comes to treating mental health conditions. Here are a few of them:

1. It gives people hope about their condition
The nature of mental health conditions means sufferers often feel pessimistic about their future. It can be hard to think ahead to a time where your illness will no longer impact you.

CBT changes this — giving people hope.

It does this by helping people see that our thoughts are not always accurate. They do not always represent what’s likely to happen in reality.

When we learn how to challenge our thoughts, we open our minds to new possibilities. The possibility that life could be very different.

2. It helps people develop self-esteem
Many mental health conditions are associated with low self-esteem.

This feeds into the cycle of negative thoughts influencing behaviour, and vice versa.

But CBT can disrupt this pattern — and help you develop more confidence in your own abilities.

When you start to understand how your thoughts work — and how they are under your control — your entire belief system changes. This includes the way you view yourself.

3. It can help people relax
The behavioural aspect of CBT helps us learn to control how we respond to our symptoms.
A lot of the time, this involves developing calmer responses using a variety of relaxation techniques.

This helps us to regulate our responses to triggers and reduce symptoms.

4. It develops more rational thought processes
The main benefit of CBT is that it helps us gain control of our thoughts.

Cognitive distortions are common and often happen automatically, without question.

Over time, the process of questioning and replacing negative thoughts can transform our thought processes.

You no longer allow negative thoughts to take control but can think rationally and evaluate the appropriate response to difficult situations.

To conclude, CBT is a highly effective form of talking therapy with a wide range of applications. It might not be suitable for everyone — or may need to be used alongside other forms of therapy treatment for the best results — but it’s often a very good place to start.