In recent years, America has undergone a major dual crisis: a rise in mental illness and a dramatic increase in substance abuse and addictions of all kinds. At the moment, one in five Americans actively suffers from some sort of mental illness, and that number is rising. Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans suffer from addictions to substances like alcohol, cigarettes, illegal drugs or prescription opioids, costing tens of thousands of people their lives every year and sucking billions out of the economy. Many people fall into both camps with a dual diagnosis of both mental illness and addiction. As a result of these issues, many are looking for cures and asking important questions like, “What is psychotherapy?” and “How does psychotherapy work?”

The answers to both of these questions are easy to understand. Psychotherapy can help people deal with their mental illness and overcome addiction.

How Does Psychotherapy Work?

How does psychotherapy work? Contrary to popular belief, psychotherapy does not involve you sitting in a chair discussing your feelings toward your mother. Instead, it involves a deep journey into your personal history, exploring any past traumas that occurred within your family or during your childhood. It also considers your current ailments.

A therapist who conducts psychotherapy may have any number of qualifications. Psychotherapy takes place over the course of regularly occurring sessions. These sessions usually last between 45 minutes and an hour.

Conversations in these sessions will run the gamut but usually involve one goal: What is wrong in your life, and what is it you want to get out of the therapy session. A therapist will review the things that are bothering you and assess your symptoms. Trust and confidentiality are absolutely critical to any therapeutic relationship as you will likely be telling the therapist deeply personal and intimate details about your life.

A therapist usually won’t provide you with specific, concrete advice. Instead, you can expect a therapist to help you examine a situation, weighing the pros and cons. They’ll also teach you healthy, productive ways to think about the next steps. The goal isn’t to make you dependent on the therapist’s advice but to help you figure out how to work through a situation on your own.

Talk Therapy at Liberty Bay

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and a good therapist, like the ones we have on our staff at Liberty Bay Recovery, will be able to work with you to determine the best means of therapy that can be most effective for you.

Psychotherapy is talk therapy. It involves you talking about what ails you, usually in a guided fashion, with the therapist periodically asking questions to help steer the conversation, identify problems and help you discover solutions.

Types of Psychotherapy

It’s also important to note that there are various types of psychotherapies. Each has different pros and cons, and some are more appropriate in certain situations than others.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy involves helping you identify the flaws in your thinking and negative thought patterns. It then allows you to restructure your behavior by altering the way you examine certain situations and emotions.

Psychoanalysis is an older form of therapy that involves identifying unconscious or hidden feelings and emotions and, then, working through those unresolved sensations in order to better process future events.

Humanistic therapy encourages you to find your “true self” and helps you better accept who you are. The goal of Humanistic Therapy is to help you maximize your inner potential.

High-quality psychotherapy treatment, in combination with a therapeutic community model, can be key to helping you in overcoming addiction. At Liberty Bay Recovery, we have psychotherapists on our staff who can assist you. Call (855) 607-8758 to learn more about how we can help you on the road to recovery.