Psychotherapy is the best option for people who are struggling to overcome a trauma or personal crisis, or for those dealing with depression or some other type of mental illness. “Compared with medication, psychotherapy has fewer side effects and lower instances of relapse,” says Katherine Nordal, Ph.D., executive director of professional practice for the American Psychological Association. (Bean, 2013, p. 67)

Yet not all people have good experiences with therapists, and psychotherapy done improperly can harm as readily as it heals. In addition, patients often gravitate towards blame-oriented types of therapy that provides excuses for their distress without actually helping them get better. As the esteemed psychologist Albert Ellis and Robert Harper write, “historical approaches to therapy remain popular partly because people who devoutly by into them can avoid taking full responsibility for their present behavior and for working actively to change it. (Ellis and Harper, 1961, p. 153)

The information in this section will help you avoid such mistakes, providing you the knowledge you need on what types of therapy work best and providing guidelines on how to choose a therapist that’s right for you.

Information on psychological therapy

• Choosing A Therapist
• Different Types of Therapists & Understanding Different Credentials
• Psychotherapy Facts
• The Different Types of Psychotherapy
  • Cognitive Therapy
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
  • Exposure Therapy
  • Information About Stress Debriefing Therapy
  • Light Therapy
  • Psychoanalysis & Psychoanalytic Therapy
  • Psychodynamic Therapy
  • Shock Therapy
• Why Psychotherapy Can Be Harmful or Dangerous
• Writing Therapy