What actually happens in psychotherapy?
In most cases, psychotherapy involves talking between you and the therapist. You will have the opportunity to talk about the difficulties you are experiencing, and explore how they impact your life. The conversation is meaningful and purposeful, and should be focused on you rather than the therapist. The following are some common examples of what therapists would do:
- Ask you to talk about problems you are currently experiencing
- Explore your past experience and personal history
- Help you to talk about and express your feelings
- Help you to reflect on your thought
- Give feedback to you regarding habitual patterns of thinking, feeling or action
- Help you organize your thoughts and feelings
- Therapists may sometimes use behavior-change procedures, including training, improving your current coping strategies, and social skills through role-play, rehearsal and audio-visual feedback.
- Giving homework assignments to be completed in real-life situations
- Keeping journals, records, forms, or inventories
- Bodywork, such as muscular relaxation, breathing exercises, yoga, body sculpture
- Using expressive arts, drawing, crafts, photography, etc.