What is a psychotherapist?
A psychotherapist could be a psychologist, psychiatrist, or mental health professional with specialist training in psychotherapy. They use talk therapy or psychotherapy to treat various mental illnesses and emotional problems in people. The psychotherapist is instrumental in helping people overcome mental stress, anxiety, troublesome habits, or emotional and relationship issues.
A medical psychotherapist is a qualified doctor specializing in psychiatry and has undergone three or four years of specialist training in psychotherapy. They have expertise in providing psychotherapeutic treatment to patients suffering from psychiatric illness.
What is the role of a psychotherapist?
A psychotherapist can help treat major mental health problems, such as:
- Anxiety disorders, including phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or panic disorder.
- Addictions, such as drug dependence, compulsive gambling, or alcoholism
- Mood disorders, including bipolar disorder or depression
- Personality disorders, such as dependent personality disorder or borderline personality disorder
- Eating disorders, such as bulimia or anorexia
- Schizophrenia or psychotic disorders (mental disorders that cause detachment from reality)
Apart from treating mental illnesses, psychotherapy can also treat or manage various conflicts and stresses in life that affect an individual. For instance:
- Relieve stress or anxiety related to work or other circumstances
- Resolve conflicts with your spouse, partner, or another individual in your life
- Learn to control unhealthy reactions, such as passive-aggressive behavior or road rage
- Cope with significant life challenges, such as job loss, death of a loved one, or divorce
- Recover from sexual or physical abuse or witnessing violence
- Cope with a severe or chronic physical health issue, such as cancer, long-term chronic pain, diabetes
- Cope with sexual problems arising due to psychological or physical causes
- Help you get better sleep if you experience trouble sleeping (insomnia) or getting to sleep.
Difference between psychotherapy and counseling
More often, the terms therapy and counseling are used interchangeably, but psychotherapy and psychological counseling differ significantly. Counseling is mainly designed to help an individual address a specific problem. It focuses on solving a particular issue or learning distinct techniques to avoid or cope with a specific problem. Counseling is more short-term compared to psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy or talk therapy is usually conducted with individuals, families, couples, and groups. It is a long-term treatment process focusing on a broad spectrum of mental health issues. Psychotherapy focuses on the principle that an individual's thinking and behavior patterns affect how that individual interacts with the world. The primary objective of psychotherapy is to help the individual:
- Effectively manage their stress and anxiety
- Understand behavior patterns that may interfere with their goal achievement
- Better regulate their emotional responses and thinking in stressful situations, and
- Have more satisfying relationships
Psychotherapy also addresses how mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorder, depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder, affect your daily life. It advises the best methods to understand the condition, manage its symptoms, and follow medical recommendations.
Types of psychotherapy
Some psychotherapy approaches are more effective than others in treating mental health issues. The best psychotherapist near you will weigh your unique situation and personal preferences when deciding on a method or mix of strategies.
Examples of practical psychotherapeutic approaches include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): It is a form of therapy that teaches you how to recognize unhelpful thoughts and actions and replace them with more constructive ones. Mental health professionals can use this type of structured, goal-oriented therapy to treat conditions like anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and phobias.
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): It is a form of CBT that teaches how to modify behavior better to manage stress, emotions, and interpersonal interactions.
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): The process of being more self-aware and accepting one's emotions is the focus of acceptance and commitment therapy. It strengthens your resolve to make changes and your capacity to deal with and adapt to difficult circumstances. ACT involves six steps: identifying your values, committing to actions, learning to see your thoughts as separate from your actions, cognitive defusion, and accepting your inner thoughts and feelings without trying to ignore or change them.
- Psychodynamics and psychoanalysis: These therapies aim to shed light on hidden patterns of thought and action. These treatments help you figure out what drives you and settle arguments. Therapists use psychodynamic therapy to treat mental health concerns like eating disorders, substance use disorders, and social anxiety disorder.
- Interpersonal psychotherapy: Relationship issues can be addressed and resolved through this therapy, whether with loved ones or at the office.
- Humanistic therapy: Humanistic therapy encompasses various types of therapy that focus on viewing people as individuals with unique abilities and potential. This approach to therapy grew out of humanistic psychology, a holistic perspective that stresses people are innately good and encourages them to find personal fulfillment. Types of humanistic therapy include client-centered, existential, narrative, and gestalt therapy.
- Expressive arts therapy: The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) describes this form of therapy as a multimodal approach that combines creative expressions like art, writing, dance, and music. Your therapist can devise a treatment that involves expressive techniques (creating collages or memory books, journaling, sketching, etc.) to help you better understand yourself and share your feelings.
- Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT): REBT, an action-oriented form of therapy, helps you deal with your irrational beliefs and learn how to manage your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in healthy, realistic ways. Therapists often use REBT to treat concerns like depression, psychotic symptoms, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and disruptive behavior in children.
Psychological support can help you deal better with stress and other negative emotions. Individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy are all viable options. All ages may benefit from these types of support offered by the best psychotherapists near you.
How long does psychotherapy treatment take?
The duration of psychotherapy or the type you are seeking can differ on several things, including:
- Your mental health problems
- Severity of the symptoms
- How long have you been experiencing the symptoms or struggling with your mental health condition
- How rapidly you are improving and meeting your treatment objectives
- The degree to which you are under stress.
- How much your worries about your mental health are affecting your day-to-day existence
- How many people can you count on, including family and friends, to back you up
- Insurance and financial constraints
Psychotherapy sessions might vary in duration depending on the modality employed. CBT, for instance, typically has fewer sessions than other types of psychotherapy. DBT, however, may require more time. The length of time needed for treatment can be discussed with the psychotherapist you are consulting. To assist you in dealing with a temporary problem, it may take only a few weeks. Treatment for long-term issues may continue for a year or more.
How to find the right psychotherapist near you in Colorado Springs, CO?
Are you searching for a qualified psychotherapist to help you solve your mental health issues? With Zocdoc, you can easily find the best and most experienced psychotherapists in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The process is simple: Create a free account on Zocdoc. Next, choose the specialty or condition, location, date, and insurance plan. A comprehensive list based on your search criteria will appear. Zocdoc has partnered with qualified and experienced psychotherapists in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who provide comprehensive advice and treatment to patients. You can even use the Zocdoc insurance detector if you need clarification on your insurance plan. Each psychotherapist on Zocdoc has a profile. The profile includes a brief introduction, education qualification, practice location, visit reasons, and, most importantly, patient reviews.
When a patient finishes an appointment, Zocdoc asks them to leave a review. Therefore, the best way to find a top-rated psychotherapist near you is to go through patient reviews and ratings on Zocdoc. You can filter your results by gender if you're looking for a female psychotherapist in Colorado Springs, Colorado. You can also book video appointments on Zocdoc before an in-person visit to better understand your psychotherapist. Look for a purple video icon on psychotherapists' profiles, or filter the video appointment selection.
Additionally, you can easily identify in-network doctors using Zocdoc’s insurance detector. If you do not see your plan listed, try taking a picture of your medical insurance card and uploading it. The website will automatically scan the image and show you your most likely plan. You can get in touch with Zocdoc’s service team if you face any problems uploading the picture. Check Zocdoc's patient help center for more insurance-related queries.
Book appointments with psychotherapists near you who accept your insurance plan in real-time. All Zocdoc bookings are simple, secure, and free!
Mental illness statistics Colorado, USA
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health conditions among the US adult population. Since May 2020, about three in ten adults have reported either depression or anxiety symptoms, compared to one in ten adults reporting these symptoms in 2019 as reported by Kaiser Family Foundation.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2019, about 23.2% of Coloradan adults reported having a mental illness, higher than the US average of almost 19.9%. Before the pandemic, almost 8.5% of adults and nearly 15.0% of adolescents in Colorado reported experiencing a major depressive episode in one year, similar to the US average of around 7.5% and 15.1%, respectively. In 2020, almost 13.9% of adolescents (12-17 age group), and nearly 8.3% of adults in Colorado, reported experiencing a major depressive episode in one year, compared to the national average of about 16.3% and 8.1%, respectively, in that year.
A report published by the Kaiser Family Foundation states that drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population have significantly increased in Colorado, from about 16.5% in 2015 to about 26.0% in 2020. Pandemic-related stress has led to new or increased substance use in approximately 15.1% of US adults. Drug overdose deaths also increased nationally from over 72,000 deaths in 2019 to more than 93,000 deaths in 2020.
As per the data published on Kaiser Family Foundation website, Suicide is among the highest causes of death and a serious public mental health concern in the USA. In September 2020, approximately 11.9% of US adults reported serious thoughts of committing suicide in the past month. In 2019, about 5.5% of adults in Colorado had serious thoughts of committing suicide, similar to the national average of about 4.6%. Suicide was among the leading causes of death among adolescents (12-17 age group) in the US. Almost 18.8% of high school students seriously considered committing suicide in the USA.
Sources
NHS
Mayo Clinic
WebMD
American Psychiatric Association
Kaiser Family Foundation[1]
Kaiser Family Foundation[2]
Kaiser Family Foundation[3]
Colorado Health Institute
Verywell Mind[1]
Verywell Mind[2]
Verywell Mind[3]
Verywell Mind[4]
Verywell Mind[5]
Cleveland Clinic
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