What is Psychotherapy? A Brief History and Definition

Psychotherapy is both a method of personal growth and a form of treatment for mental health issues through psychological rather then medical means. Psychotherapy was originally created by Sigmund Freud and known as psychoanalysis in the late 19th and early 20th century in Vienna, Austria. Over the years as other schools of thought emerged and branched out from Freud's original methods and theories the term psychotherapy came to be used in order to better encompass all of the wide ranging modalities that came after psychoanalysis. Before Freud's ground breaking theories, the medical model of mental illness dominated psychology. A major component of the medical model is the notion that the doctor is the expert, knows what to do, and the patient follows his orders accordingly. There were many vague and unfounded theories about mental illness as a result of this approach since consciousness is not like a failing organ that can be observed under a microscope. Freud took note of this and decided to try something radically different. After unsuccessfully experimenting with various methods, he chose to put his expertise as a medical doctor to the side, and began to listen to what his patients had to say. This radical idea of listening to someone sparked the beginning of psychotherapy. Listening and giving feedback are still fundamental components of all psychotherapeutic modalities at least to some degree. Freud found that beneath his patients deepest feelings and thoughts were unconscious motivations and meanings that could only be deciphered and made sense of after they were expressed in language.  A main premise at work here is that dialogue with another human being can be helpful. Something mysterious happens when we say our thoughts and feelings out loud to another human being.  Something changes, something shifts within us when we do so. Freud found that expressing our feelings, thoughts, dreams, fantasies, and unexplained behaviors in conjunction with making sense of what they mean can be curative, therapeutic, and promote personal growth. After expressing and deciphering what they mean we can arrive at an ethical position where we are able to now make a more conscious decision about a course of action. In the most basic sense I can explain it without getting mired in theory: the process of expressing our feelings and thoughts, processing and understanding what they mean, and making informed choices in regards to them in order to grow as individuals and heal from mental health issues is what psychotherapy is all about. - Patrick Cleveland, LMFT

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