The greatest discovery of the early 20^th century, according to William James, the founder of psychology, is that human beings can change their own lives by changing their own mind.

What Is Psychotherapy?

Thomas Szasz, a great opponent to the medicinal approach to humans, defines psychotherapy as a private confidential conversation that should not be associated with terms such as disease, medicine or treatment.

Yet, psychotherapy is much more than confidential conversation. Psychotherapy is a relationship that reconstructs the entire development of the personality, reveals existing elements, their mutual relations, and then alters and integrates them, releasing internal potential for growth, work and love.

Psychotherapy is a relationship like no other, which features containing, mentalising, reflection and other important functions. Great skill, knowledge and experience on the part of the therapist are required in order to a establish a healing relationship, but the success of the therapy is primarily the achievement of the client, their creative potential, inner strength, ability to develop and enjoy this unique journey.

Who Needs Psychotherapy?

A recent study shows that around 1–in–7 people, or 15% of the world population, suffers from some psychological disorder or substance use disorder. Data calculated for the last 5 years shows more than 970 million people worldwide have a mental or substance use disorder. The most prevalent are anxiety disorders and depression, making around 4 percent of the population each, followed by alcohol and drug abuse (Saloni Dattani, Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2021) – “Mental Health” https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health).

Every person encounters difficulties in life that involve disappointment, difficulty, loss, separation, conflict, loneliness and many other emotions, conditions and situations. The struggle is hard and each person has their own way of overcoming adversities and finding their place under the sun. It is important to know how to make this journey easier.

Psychotherapy can help everyone, but it is most effective for people who already like to think about themselves and the relationships they make withpeople around them. The skill of working on one’s self in therapy is amplified and the person gains the energy and incentive necessary to derive the maximum from themselves.

Psychotherapy And Art

Art in itself is one of the mechanisms for achievingmental health. Artistic creativity is based on the ego’s mechanism called sublimation. Some artists believe that creative expression requires ‘mental illness’ and they nurture their harmful habits and behaviour to ‘benefit their art’. This is actually a misconception.

Things are quite different in reality. Internal strugglesin fact represent material for the creation of artwork, but artists often lose the ability to create due to their mental exhaustion or difficulties. Psychotherapy unleashes creative potential, provides incentives for higher levels of creativity, opening new perspectives and becomes a source for creativity, excitement and joy.

Scepticism About Psychotherapy

Some people believe that life is simply very dreary and that they cannot be helped. Psychotherapy may not have helped every person who has taken this path, but it has helped a great majority of them. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts and behaviour are curable. Psychotic conditions, schizophrenia, paranoia, addiction disease and other serious mental illnesses can be successfully treated today.

How to Choose a Psychotherapist?

There are different types of psychotherapy: psychoanalysis, systemic/family, client centred, cognitive behavioural, REBT, DBT, interpersonal, psychodrama, transactionalanalyses , body-oriented, etc. Some studies have shown that the personality of the therapist may have a greater impact on the therapy outcome than the form of psychotherapy, but it is very important that the therapist went through proper therapeutic training that lasted minimum 4 years. It is not easy to graspthe different modalities, but when searching for a psychotherapist you can check how long was their training and how well established is the society-school-institute they trained in. Some traings can have similar titles, but one can last for 4 years and the other only 6 months. It is also good to rely on the recommendation of a person that you trust or simply your ‘gut feeling’regarding a given psychotherapist. If you start therapy and don’t feel that the therapy process fits you – try to find a therapist who suits you. On the other hand, there are people who make the rounds from therapist to therapist, giving up on therapy the moment when they fear the possibility of their own progress.

Types of psychotherapy that we provide

• Individual psychotherapy
• Family or partner psychotherapy
• Child psychotherapy
• Group psychotherapy
• Counselling
• Online psychotherapy

How Long Does Psychotherapy Last?

It is important to know that psychotherapy is a process. Even though positive results are visible shortly, deeper change and inner development requires time, as is the case with learning any other life skill. Even though it is a lengthy process, psychotherapy does have its end, which is also one of the important aspects of the psychotherapy process. The client and therapist together agree on when is the time to end therapy and it is never abrupt, but rather planned process that has a special meaning and significance, rounding the whole therapy progress together.

Rules of Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a relationship that is strictly defined on one side and endlessly broad on the other. The rules of psychotherapy are related to the psychotherapy setting, the boundaries of the relationship, therapeutic interventions, durations of session, etc. Different psychotherapy modalities may have different rules, although most have similar postulates.

Some General Rules of Psychotherapy Practice

• Individual psychotherapy sessions da can last differently depending on the therapist and their primary psychotherapy approach/school. The most common duration is 50 minutes. Couples and family therapy sessions usually last 70/1h10 minutes, while group therapy sessions usually last 90/1h30 minutes.
• The session frequency depends on the type of mental difficulties and the therapist defines it according to the individual needs of the client. Sessions are most commonly held once per week. “Couch analysis”, which is the most effective and most intensive form of psychotherapy, is held 4 to 5 times per week.
• It is advisable to establish a single psychotherapy setting, meaning that the therapy is always held in the same place, in the same setting, and if possible – at the same time.
• In the event that a session is cancelled, it must be announced on time – meaning at least one day in advance. If the therapist does not cancel the session on time, the client will not be charged for the following session.If the client does not cancel the session on time, they will be charged as if the session had been held.
• The psychotherapist is required to protect the client’s privacy and prevent their identification in every possible way. The confidentiality rule is limited in the case when the client’s life is in jeopardy, i.e. when the client threatens suicide or homicide. In the case of physical violence or threat of physical violence, the therapist is required to notify the authorities and prevent the occurrence of violence using all means available to them.
• The psychotherapist may use data obtained in the course of their work with clients for scientific research, papers, articles and publication, provided that they prevent the identification of the client and other persons. The psychotherapist may publish certain content provided they obtain the client’s consent.
• Psychotherapy sessions are not recorded, unless the psychotherapist and client have agreed differently. In that event the client must provide written consent for the sessions to be recorded for scientific purposes or for the improvement of their personal treatment.

Why Do People Go to Psychotherapy?

The signs that you might benefit from psychotherapy may be the sensation of sustained loss of energy, when you often feel unwell, depressive, nervous, angry, tense, etc. Even a poor immune system and frequent illness might mean that you need to unburden the mental sphere of your life.

Feeling unwell or reduced joy of life is part of life for some people since childhood and it appears to be part of their personality, while others may feel like that during different stressful periods, such as when starting school, university, quarrelling with parents, disagreement with their partner, relocating, the birth of their child, changing or losing their job, divorce or due to certain experiences that might be traumatic.

Some people feel fine “in their own skin”, but want to achieve their maximum, greater awareness, as well as deeper and more meaningful connections with the significant persons in their lives. Psychotherapy unleashes the capacity for intimate relationships, love and work, and increases overall joy of life.