Psychotherapy and Prevention Strategies: Effective or Nah?

Is psychotherapy effective Skeptics People often enter therapy in crisis Clients may need to believe the therapy was worth the effort Clients generally speak kindly of their therapists People are prone to selective and biased recall and make judgements based on our beliefs “control group”…unintentionally misleading

Outcome research Similar research has been done since the 1800’s Bleeding and typhoid patients Hans Eysenck- studies show that two thirds of those receiving psychotherapy for nonpsychotic disorders improved markedly Also reported that roughly two thirds with those without treatment recovered noticeably (time is a great healer) Meta-analysis- procedure for combining the results of many different research studies The average therapy client ends up better than 80% of the untreated people on the waiting list

Other results Those with treatment are more likely to improve more quickly and with less risk of relapse It is cost effective

What is most successful? There is little connection between experience, training, supervision, and licensing and their clients outcome Some therapy is better for certain things Behavioral conditioning- specific behavior problems Psychodynamic- depression, anxiety Cognitive/cognitive behavioral therapy is effective with PTSD and depression More successful with clear-cut problems

Evidence-based practice- clinical based decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/11/26/scared-straight-not- really/

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) People imagine traumatic scenes with eye movement is triggered, enabling them to unlock and reprocess previously frozen memories 84-100% (YES) Three 90 minutes sessions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpRQvcW2kUM

Light Exposure Therapy Ever felt sluggish in the winter? Morning bright light dims the depression symptoms for many suffering in a seasonal pattern

Elements Share by All Forms of Psychotherapy Hope for demoralized people A new perspective Empathetic, trusting, and caring relationship Therapeutic alliance= bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client’s problem

Culture, Gender, and Values Individualistic cultures vs collectivist Men vs women religion

Preventing Disorders Resilience Support programs that help alleviate the situations that create illness