Psychotherapy involves a trained professional using psychological methods to help clients with psychological problems, without medical treatment. It involves a unique relationship and disclosure of highly personal information. Key aspects of therapies discussed in the document include establishing ethical standards in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis which aims to resolve unconscious conflicts, techniques used in psychoanalysis like free association and dream interpretation, and interpersonal psychotherapy for depression which focuses on social relationships and communication of feelings.

1. Therapies
Dr. Irene Karayianni

2. Psychotherapy
A form of therapy in which a trained professional uses methods based on
psychological theories to help a person with psychological problems.
Does not include medical treatment.
Unique relationship, highly personal information.
Image sources
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/center_index.php?cn=91

3. Ethical standards
• The therapist must not use intense relationship to exploit the client in
any way.
• Goals of treatment must be of the best interest of the client and
society, and must be fully understood by the client.
• Therapists must only treat problems that they are qualified to treat.
Else, refer client to someone else.
• Carefully consider alternative treatment methods.
• Evaluate effectiveness of treatment. Find meaningful measures.
• Confidentiality (except court matters, or if clients are in immediate
danger to harm themselves or others)
• Therapists must respect differences in gender, ethnicity etc, and not
sway clients to their own values.

4. Psychoanalysis
Image sources
http://www.psychotherapist-blog.com/category/contemporary-psychoanalysis/

5. Psychoanalysis
• Developed by Freud
• Based on his belief that the root of all psychological problems is
unconscious conflicts among the id, the ego and the superego.
• Conflicts that get out of hand
• Conflicts must be brought to the conscious if they are to be resolved.
• Not easy (the id is completely unconscious)
• Use special therapy methods, to relax the ego guard
• The id is revealed in disguise
• Psychoanalyst must
– Create conditions to relax censorship of ego
– Interpret disguised symbolic revelations of unconscious mind to patient

6. Technique: free association
• Developed by Freud
• Talk about whatever comes to mind, allowing contents of unconscious
to slip past the censorship of the ego.
• No thought or feeling is withheld
• Easier for patient to lie on couch, facing the ceiling
• Psychoanalyst out of sight
• As if patients are talking to themselves
Image sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_picture_is_worth_a_thousand_words

7. Technique: dream interpretation
• Developed by Freud
• The symbols in the obvious content of dreams that are recalled, are
interpreted to reveal the hidden content (manifest / latent)
Image sources
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/womens-health/sleeplessness-causes

8. Technique: interpretation of resistance
• Developed by Freud
• He placed emphasis on resistance in therapy
• Resistance = any form of opposition to the process of psychoanalysis
• Resistance means a conflict is discovered and the patient doesn’t want
to think about it
• Can occur in two ways
– Vague – missing appointments, question value of psychoanalysis
– Specific – resistance to the interpretations of the therapist

9. Technique: interpretation of transference
• Patients feel and act towards therapists in ways that resemble how they
feel and act toward other significant adults (e.g. parent, eployer)
• Another source of valuable information: relationship between therapist
and client
• Intense relationship
• E.g. argue for fees, asking for reassurance

10. Catharsis
• In addition to symbolic revelations, Psychoanalysis allows release of
emotions
• Release of emotional energy related to unconscious conflicts

11. Interpersonal psychotherapy for depression
• Interpersonal psychotherapy is based on neo-Freudian theories of
Sullivan
• Focuses on accurate definition and communication of feelings and the
improvement of current social relationships
• Focuses on the “here and now”
• Usually completed in 12-16 weeks
• Originally developed to treat depression. 4 kinds of problems that cause
depression
– Grief over the loss of a relationship (death, divorce)
– Conflicts with people that are significant to us
– Stressful life events, or events threatening self esteem
– Lack of social skills for establishing healthy relationships

12. Interpersonal psychotherapy for depression
• IPT therapists try to reach 7 goals to treat depression
• Therapist understands my feelings and considers them important
• Understand how my feelings are related to what’s going on in my life,
to my current relationships (emotional baggage)
• Learn to express my feelings in constructive ways
• Identify unhealthy relationships that can’t be fixed, end them, move on
to healthier ones
• Master new roles created in life
• Improve my skills for creating and maintaining healthy relationships
• Develop optimistic focus on current opportunities for change, instead of
the past

13. Humanistic psychotherapy
Image sources
http://www.brightonandhovepsychotherapy.com/