Harsha, now a dynamic journalist says, “I started therapy at a time nothing seemed to work for me, and I had lost hope in myself. I was thinking of quitting my degree and maybe life itself. At first therapy seemed pointless, but what kept me going was my psychologist’s unwavering belief in me and encouraging me to do my bit too as a team with her. Now I know how to hold on and keep rowing even when it's stormy and my boat is rocking”.
Who is psychotherapy for?
A general impression among people in India was that psychotherapy was only for a small set of those with severe mental illness. A welcoming change in recent times is that more people are open to taking the professional help of a psychologist instead of struggling with emotional and behavioral difficulties on their own.
Psychotherapy is for all who want to enhance their awareness, understanding and ability to manage their mind, with an aim to work towards a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Clients who take psychotherapy can have different reasons that made them consider psychotherapy. It can be problems involving depression, worry, social anxiety, panic, phobia, insomnia, emotional dysregulation or mood fluctuation. Adjustment problems due to interpersonal conflicts, grief/loss or role transition difficulties are common reasons that bring people to consult psychologists.
While Anil learned to make the difficult transition from being a student in a protected home environment to an independent employee in a distant city; for Reena, psychotherapy helped to overcome depression through finding her identity beyond viewing herself as a ‘failure who is divorced’.
Psychotherapy aimed at improving stress management skills is utilized by a large number of people to explore long term solutions for psychosomatic complaints such as migraine, irritable bowel syndrome and post-menstrual dysphoric disorder. Addictive, binge or self- damaging behaviours (substance abuse, television, youtube, social media related screen overuse, internet gaming, self-injurious behaviours etc.) or other behavioural difficulties such as procrastination, perfectionism, hoarding etc. can also be addressed through psychotherapy.
Rishab, a successful chartered accountant, talks of his psychotherapy experience as, “I look forward to having the space to talk about myself, my memories, thoughts and aspirations. Each session, I feel as if I found yet another piece of my life puzzle. I appreciate and care for myself so much more now.”
Those who may not have any apparent psychological problem other than a subjective experience of dissatisfaction, unhappiness and nonfulfillment, can also utilise psychotherapy as a safe place to explore oneself and to find meaning through better self-awareness.
How does psychotherapy work?
The client/s for psychotherapy can be an individual, couple, family or a group with common concern. Traditionally, an in-person, face to face focused communication where the psychotherapist and the client work as a team towards therapeutic goals, has been the hallmark of psychotherapy. Current times has witnessed a shift towards online or digital therapeutics, especially during the COVID pandemic. Though there are a variety of other communication methods such as through phone, messaging, chat or email, videoconferencing where the therapist and client can see each other and get synchronous verbal and nonverbal feedback, is the closest substitute to in-person therapy.
There are various forms of evidence-based psychotherapy mainly Acceptance and commitment therapy, Cognitive behaviour therapy, Dialectical behaviour therapy, Interpersonal therapy, Emotion focused therapy, Trauma focused therapy, Solution focused therapy, Psychodynamic therapy and more. The kind of problems to address, the training of the psychotherapist and the client preference are factors that influence which form of therapy is chosen. An exciting, major shift in the world of psychotherapy is the advent of the process-based therapy approach which will enable the psychotherapist to provide more individualised, targeted and effective treatment.
Psychotherapy is a science and an art. The psychotherapist’s personality, training and experience must match the client’s personality, concern and expectation. This is necessary to establish a strong therapeutic relationship between the client and the psychotherapist. It is this secure bond that serves as a scaffold for the client to work through difficult areas in their life. The self-exploration and reflection that’s possible through psychotherapy provide the client with an opportunity for transformative experience.
Archana was bent upon not messing up this time. She had already lost a year as she could not cope with the academic stress and decided to take a break from that semester. But now again she found herself wasting time scrolling through social media to destress. She panicked that history was repeating. Psychotherapy helped her acquire the skills to make space for anxiety,and do her academics in the presence of unpleasant feelings.
Psychotherapy equips the client with better awareness and acceptance of oneself as a unique and valued person, with essential skills such as mindfulness, perspective taking, cognitive and attentional flexibility, and commitment to move towards one’s valued goals. Psychotherapy helps with the concerns that first brought the client to therapy and makes the person more resilient to cope with future challenges that life always throws at us.
