What is Psychotherapy?

Purpose of Psychotherapy

There is a widespread and erroneous belief that psychotherapy is 'a conversation between friends and relatives'.

The main purpose of psychotherapy is not to comfort, cheer up or give rights. It is not to grieve together or to directly find and impose a solution that the person cannot produce. Psychotherapy is a partnership in which the psychological groundwork for self-knowledge and the solution of one's problems is created.

What is Real

Psychotherapy is a process of "therapeutic cooperation-communication" between a clinical psychologist/psychiatrist who has received the necessary training in this field and clients, patients, couples, families and groups who apply to him/her for the solution of their "psychiatric illness/psychological-based" problems. In psychotherapy, there is a "planned treatment approach based on a specific theory or paradigm" and the psychotherapist is an expert trained in this approach. This distinguishes psychotherapy from other "counseling, support, coaching, personal development, etc." processes.

Depending on the nature of the problem, psychotherapy can be applied as individual, couple/marriage therapy, family therapy or group therapy. Most psychotherapy techniques use "conversational" communication as a method. In some types of psychotherapy, writing, drawing, art therapy, drama (role-playing, portraying a fictionalized person/object) or music may be used as a means of communication.

In the field of child psychiatry, for example, play therapy, drawing, drama are frequently used techniques. The common aspect of all psychotherapy techniques is that they are based on a theory and structured in a purposeful way. And the aim of all of them is to increase the individual's capacity for self-observation and self-awareness, to enable him/her to see his/her own role in the source or continuation of his/her problems and to make the necessary mental and behavioral changes for a solution.

The task of the psychotherapist:

The psychotherapy environment is a bit like sailing. Life can be likened to the sea, the place that the person assumes to occupy in life can be likened to the ship, the person to the captain, and the therapist to the pilot. The person is obliged to use his/her own ship of life because he/she is the captain and the responsibility belongs to him/her. However, there may be other ships in the area where he/she uses his/her ship and there may be storms, whirlpools and underwater protrusions in the sea of life that he/she cannot see. This is where the help of a pilot, the therapist, comes into play. He guides the person's ship in the sea of life to safe seas with minimum risks. Especially in this respect, therapies applied to children and young people who have just taken the helm of life are of great importance in treatment.

FIRST STEP It is now known in developed societies all over the world that going to psychotherapy is nothing to be ashamed of. Psychological counselors are behind many successful people. It is a very wise choice to recognize one's own shortcomings or the processes that challenge one and to want to act. The first step is to analyze oneself, to want to analyze oneself and to take this decision and stand behind this decision.

What does the psychotherapist want?

The psychotherapist wants the client to have reached the psychological ground necessary for him/her not to need psychiatric treatment again and not to be dependent on the doctor, medication or psychologist when the therapy process is over, if the medication has ended.

" PSYCHOTHERAPY IS A HEALTHY CHOICE FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM.

IT IS A PROCESS OF LEARNING WHAT TO DO IN ORDER NOT TO BE DISTURBED AGAIN."

How Does the Therapy Process Work?

• In order to get detailed information, it is essential to establish trust between the psychologist and the client. This relationship can be established in one session or it may take longer than expected due to its nature.
• Psychotherapy cannot be built on lies, this is damaging. It is essential that both parties trust each other.
• First of all, a personality analysis is carried out and various tests are used (there are many different test batteries for children, adolescents and adults). The results of these tests are communicated to the person. If it is a child, the family is definitely informed. The therapist determines when the family should also participate in the therapy. Since healthy insight is considered essential in therapy sessions, the person is informed in detail about the information obtained and the conclusions drawn, and the path to be followed is drawn together.
• The psychologist records the client's problem areas. After determining the personality structure by applying the necessary tests, the psychologist selects the appropriate psychotherapy method and shares it with the client. The goals of the therapy and the time needed to achieve them are agreed upon.
• What is important in therapies is continuity. No therapy should be left unfinished. If the client feels that he/she cannot get along with the therapist, he/she should share this with the therapist. This information should be shared with the therapist, as the client may unwittingly reflect the conflicting relationships he/she has established with his/her environment in therapy.
• If the person does not want to continue the sessions despite all these, he/she has the right to change therapists due to a mutual negative interaction situation. The important thing here is to share this feeling with the therapist and discuss this issue in the session. After this evaluation, the right to choose is left to the individual.
• In therapies with adults, private information cannot be transferred to family members or relatives under any circumstances without the client's permission. Confidentiality and respect for privacy are prioritized.
• When it is necessary to use external factors such as family, school, social environment, this process is shaped depending on the age, education and position of the client. In children and young people, all these factors can be included in the therapy as appropriate. In adults, depending on the situation, depending on the characteristics of social proximity, people in the client's immediate environment can be included in the therapy at the client's request.
• Therapy sessions are 50 minutes long, but this period may decrease or increase in various applications. The reasons for this application are given to the client according to the type of treatment and his/her approval is obtained.
• The therapy process should never be left unfinished. The time of termination of the therapy should be decided together with the therapist, and it should be thoroughly evaluated whether the goal set at the beginning has been achieved.

Different Techniques Used in Therapies

• For the last 15 years, certain tools have been included in therapies. With the use of computers in therapy, it is possible to see our bodily reactions and brain waves. It has become possible to analyze the reactions that disturb the person in this way.
• Studies called Biofeedback, Neurofeedback, Neurobiofeedback, Edufeedback accelerate the therapy process. These methods increase self-awareness and enable the person to actively participate in the treatment and help him/her to accurately assess whether he/she can really control himself/herself.
• Different techniques used in psychotherapy include Group Therapies (Psychodrama, Interaction Group etc.), EF, EMDR, Hypnotherapy. These techniques should be applied by therapists with adequate training. Otherwise, misuse and harm to the client may occur. REHACOM, another therapy tool, includes exercises prepared as a computer program used in the treatment of patients with problems in high-level brain functions and can be applied in different age groups from children to the elderly.
• The REHACOM application, which increases mental development along with many other tools, is used in various age groups from children to the elderly with computer accompaniment.
• A therapy environment can be created in many ways and arrangements according to the needs. Psychotherapies can be individual-oriented as well as using supportive instruments. Although there are many types of therapy, the choice of therapy is based on the emotional state and difficulties experienced by the person, and the form of therapy between sessions can be changed by the psychotherapist in connection with the process.
• The aim of treatment planning is to correct wrong, conflicting, contradictory, inappropriate behaviors and habits, and to eliminate the features that inhibit functionality. Therefore, different techniques are used. Following the personality analysis (MMPI), the therapy to be used in the treatment is shaped according to the assessment made.
• Some therapies aim to include concrete elements and the process should not be too long, while in other therapies the process should be longer and more detailed.
• Depending on the person's age, education and complaints, the therapist selects the appropriate therapy method.
• The aim of some forms of therapy is to change and adapt the belief systems based on the misperceptions the individual has developed about himself/herself, his/her environment, his/her future, his/her perception of existence, and his/her perception of other people. During the treatment process, awareness of false beliefs is raised and the individual is encouraged to make a conscious effort to change them.
• Play therapy is also used with children. It functions as a form of communication in the treatment environment for children who cannot express their feelings and thoughts verbally. In this way, the child's feelings and thoughts are tried to be learned.
• Group therapies are extremely useful in the treatment of internalized and personalized problems.
• The aim of group therapies is to enable participants to recognize, define and solve themselves, each other and their problems within the group dynamics in an environment of similar characteristics.
• Educational therapies are treatments that can be applied in groups or individually. The aim is to increase the level of competence in the field of study by conducting structured and regular educational activities related to skill, etiquette and knowledge deficiencies in certain areas. The areas of use range from mental retardation to specific learning disabilities, from speech disorders to the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other behavioral disorders.
• Art therapy is also a frequently used therapy technique. In this therapy, the individual's feelings and thoughts are expressed through the art technique used and the therapist uses the data obtained in the therapy process.
• Music therapy is one of the therapy methods and is extremely important. Like all other branches of art, music is a form of expression in which human beings reveal and reveal their emotions. It is a useful tool for the control of emotions and behaviors in treatment.