PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPIES: TYPES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The psychological therapy is a procedure in which a psychologist interacts with a patient to solve various problems related to behavior, personal relationships, work, among others.

The types of psychological therapies for children, adolescents and adults that are most used are psychoanalytic therapy, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, humanistic therapy, gestalt therapy, neuropsychological therapy, systemic therapy and coaching.

First of all, it must be taken into account that there are different kinds of therapies and that not all psychologists do the same type of work. This first appreciation is important, since each type of therapy has certain characteristics and is more useful for a series of problems.

Each person who intends to go to the psychologist, should previously be documented on the types of therapies that exist and those that best suit their problem. It should be borne in mind that therapy classes are not designed based on the psychological problems that concern or the disorders they intend to treat, but rather correspond to different schools and paradigms of psychology.

Types of psychological therapies and how they work

1- Psychoanalytic therapy

This therapy supposes the birth of psychology as a discipline and has its origins in the more than famous therapist Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.

Freud's theory explains the behavior of human beings and is based on the analysis of unconscious conflicts that originate mainly during childhood.

In fact, to understand and interpret psychological disturbances, Freud placed special emphasis on instinctual drives that are repressed by consciousness and remain in the unconscious.

Taking into account these premises of psychoanalysis, the psychoanalyst therapist is in charge of bringing out unconscious conflicts through the interpretation of dreams, failed acts and free association.

Of all of them, the one most used today is free association, a technique that aims for the patient to express all their ideas, emotions, thoughts and mental images as they are presented in the sessions.

This expression is made under the premise of the therapeutic power of emotional catharsis, that is, of the need that people have to release our thoughts and emotions to have a good state of mental health.

Once the patient has expressed himself, the psychoanalyst must determine which factors reflect a conflict in the unconscious and which do not.

2- Psychodynamic therapy

Psychodynamic therapy follows the line of psychoanalytic thinking and is very often confused with it. However, psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy are not exactly the same.

Psychodynamic therapy leaves behind the classical view of the analytical approach to the self, the id, and the superego. In fact, it is considered as the "modernization of psychoanalysis", since it abandons the most controversial and extremist aspects of this current.

There are different ways to carry out this type of therapy, but all of them pursue the same objective: to provide the patient with a state of awareness about their motives and their hidden conflicts.

3- Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy supposes a total distancing from the two therapies that we have discussed previously. In fact, both the conceptualization of the functioning of the human psyche and clinical practice are far from each other.

According to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) it is understood that thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect feelings and emotions, as well as behavior. In fact, it is considered that functioning falls on these three main areas, which feed back on each other.

In this way, an emotion intensifies a certain type of thought, which motivates a specific behavior that, in turn, can intensify the initial emotion or the concrete thought.

Thus, under this operating premise, CBT is a therapy that tries to teach the patient a series of skills to better cope with different problems.

In fact, the fundamental point for this treatment to be effective is for the patient to become aware of its functioning and to be able to apply the strategies proposed by the psychologist to improve their psychological state.

In addition, CBT works both on thought patterns, identifying, analyzing and adapting them, as well as on behavior patterns, applying techniques that can modify behavior and have beneficial effects.

CBT is the treatment par excellence for phobias and other anxiety disorders, although it is currently used to treat any type of mental disorder.

4- Behavioral therapy

Behavioral therapies are a variant of cognitive behavioral treatment that is characterized, as its name suggests, in focusing only on the behavioral component.

While cognitive-behavioral therapy encompasses thinking, emotions, and behaviors, behavioral therapies take a more extreme view and focus only on behavior.

According to this approach, behavior stands as the main element to be treated and is based on the fact that if it is modified, the rest of the variables (emotions and thoughts) will also change.

The therapeutic sessions of this type of therapy focus only on techniques that are aimed at modulating behavior, with the aim of increasing the psychological well-being of people.

Although it is scientifically proven that in most cases it is convenient to accompany these techniques with cognitive treatments (as in cognitive behavioral therapy), behavioral therapy is useful in different cases.

Especially in those people in whom it is very difficult to incorporate rational thoughts as in schizophrenia, dementia syndromes or very severe depression, incorporating behavioral interventions may be the best treatment option.

5- Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy focuses solely on the reconstruction of the person's thoughts, with the aim of eliminating those that cause discomfort and generating beneficial cognitions for the psychological state.

Within this type of therapy appear many techniques such as cognitive reconstruction, Socratic dialogue or the ABC model.

All of them are characterized by the fact that the therapist, through an exhaustive analysis of the patient's thoughts, tries to correct the irrational cognitions that appear.

This does not mean that the psychologist is telling the patient what to think and what not, but rather that he is jointly conceptualizing and analyzing how things should be seen and what thoughts should be adopted.

This therapy is widely used to treat depression (except in the very severe phases), adjustment disorders, and some anxiety disorders, especially generalized anxiety disorder.

6- Humanistic therapy

Humanistic psychology is considered as the third wave of psychology, which contemplates both cognitive-behavioral perspectives and psychoanalytic perspectives. It was born at the hands of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers in the mid-twentieth century and is strongly influenced by phenomenology and existentialism.

In humanistic therapies it is defended that the individual is a conscious, intentional being, in constant development, whose mental representations and subjective states are a valid source of knowledge about himself.

The patient is seen as the main actor both in his existential search and in the resolution of the possible problems that he may encounter. In this way, the humanistic therapist has a secondary role as a facilitator of the process, allowing the subject to find the answers he seeks on his own.

The psychotherapist seeks the self-realization of the human being, so he accompanies and guides his patient, but all decisions will always be made by the patient.

7- Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy is a particular type of humanistic therapy that was developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the middle of the last century.

From this position it is understood that the mind is the self-regulating and holistic unit, and is based on the basic principle of Gestalt psychology that the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

This means that gestalt conceives the human being as a whole, integrating its different aspects such as goals, needs, potentialities or specific problems.

Thus, in this type of therapy, experiential and creative techniques are used to improve the patient's self-awareness, freedom and self-direction. The therapist never tells the patient what to do but uses the educational capacity of dialogue.

Gestalt therapies place great value on the present moment and self-awareness of the emotional and bodily experience, the individual being seen from an integrative perspective.

For this reason, for many people, gestalt is not a simple psychological therapy, but rather an authentic philosophy of life that contributes positively to the individual's way of perceiving relationships with the world.

8- Systemic therapy

Systemic therapy also acquires an integrative view of people's lives. Thus, the main element that monopolizes much of the attention in psychotherapy is the set of relationships that emerge from the life of the individual.

According to this vision, both what we are and what we build derive from the interaction we carry out with the different stimuli from the outside world, whether they are people, groups of individuals, estates, activities, etc.

The advantage of this psychotherapy is that by focusing directly on the individual's relationships, it acquires a problem-solving approach that can be very practical.

It is a therapy that is currently used in abundance and with very positive results in the resolution of family problems and couple conflicts, through the well-known group therapies.

Systemic therapy focuses on identifying dysfunctional patterns within the behavior of a group (or a couple), so it tries to balance relationship systems globally and leaves out problems that arise only at the individual level.

9- Neuropsychological therapy

Neuropsychological and neurorehabilitation therapy is responsible for performing interventions in people of any age who present some type of brain injury or dysfunction of the nervous system.

Diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or other dementia syndromes, amnestic disorders, head injuries, brain injuries and other pathologies can decrease our cognitive abilities.

In this way, neuropsychological therapy departs somewhat from the treatments discussed so far and focuses on the rehabilitation of cognitive abilities through the performance of different activities and the adaptation of specific treatments.

10- Coaching

Finally, coaching is another of the functions that psychologists perform, although it does not configure psychological therapy in itself. In fact, nowadays there are more and more professionals (not only psychologists) who join in carrying out this type of intervention.

It should be borne in mind that, unlike those mentioned above, coaching is a technique that aims at personal development but is not psychotherapy.

Thus, despite the fact that these types of interventions can be useful in many cases, it is not advisable to carry them out when suffering from serious psychological disorders, especially if the professional who carries out the treatment is not a psychologist.

11- Jungian therapy

Carl Jung

Also known as Jung's analysis in honor of its creator, the renowned doctor and psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961). It is widely used for disorders such as depression or anxiety and addictions.

Jung proposes that emotional balance can never be achieved unless one delves into the unconscious through archetypes, dreams, or artistic manifestations. The aim is to find that hidden information that is destabilizing the emotional well-being of the patient.

To do this, the therapist must gain the confidence of the patient and that he express himself freely, without pressure and without fear of looking inside. It would be a game between the conscious and the unconscious, until we find what is traumatizing the mind.

During the therapies dreams are analyzed, activities are created in which the patient expresses himself and associations of images or words are created.

12- Music therapy

This therapy is based on the use of music to improve the mental well-being of a patient. It is often used to increase self-esteem, as support for people with learning difficulties, rehabilitation of alcoholics or drug addicts, as well as a stimulus for people with terminal illnesses.

This is due to the proven ability of music to work on sensory, motor, emotional or cognitive aspects in people. It has a high degree of acceptance because it is a pleasant and non-invasive technique.

13- Brief Therapy Focused on Solutions

Belonging to systems therapy, TBCS is a resource based on quickly and efficiently finding a solution to a specific dysfunctional problem. It is applied above all in relationship problems, family problems, lack of self-esteem or, in some cases, sexual problems.

The procedure is to ask the patient questions so that they can reflect and enhance their strengths to improve their situation.

Unless the patient himself sees fit, it is not necessary to delve into the past.

There are many companies or educational centers that resort to this type of therapy to improve the well-being of their employees, students and other personnel linked to the institution.

14- Transpersonal psychology

This therapy is focused on the "beyond", understood as an individual's concerns about consciousness, the soul or spirituality, that is, concepts created from the human imagination and that have little scientific basis.

The patient who seeks this type of help is because he needs to develop himself, find spiritual peace, give meaning to his existence or be able to seek an explanation for his mystical experiences.

In this case, the therapist must show empathy, be open to understanding the psychology of his patient and seek a practical approach to solve his concerns. It can be supported by recommending therapies such as yoga, meditation or creative writing to the patient.

15- Client-centered therapy

Developed by Carl Rogers, it is part of humanistic therapies. For this reason, the patient is the one who will know, develop and self-realizing throughout the process. The therapist only has to lead the way through empathy, understanding and acceptance.

The aim is for the patient to know how to interpret his own message and explore his own strengths that he did not know he had or that he was not capable of exploiting.

References

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