Understanding different types of therapy

The most courageous thing you can do for yourself is committing to getting the right help you need. Beginning to see yourself as worthy of support is life-changing. When someone has decided to make the decision to get help, the next step is discovering the right type of support. That can be done through understanding the different types of therapy modules that are out there. In this article, we will dive into the different types of talk therapy available.

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is the most commonly used therapy. It is the practice of speaking with a mental health professional to communicate and work through identified issues that cause emotional distress.

Different Types of Talk Therapy

1. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

“Dialectical” means the holding of two opposites. Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT was developed to help people cope with extreme or unstable emotions and harmful behaviors. Within dialectical therapy people are taught two strategies:

1. acceptance, in the sense that their experiences and behaviors are valid.

2. Change; the notion that they have to make positive changes to manage emotions moving forward.

Components of a DBT Program

A skills training group where people are able to begin effective and practical skills into their lives when they are starting to become distressed. Previously, when distress people can sometimes have unhealthy coping mechanisms and the skills learned here are meant to replace those unhealthy mechanisms. The skills that are taught and touched on are:

1. Mindfulness: A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations
2. Distress Tolerance: The ability to manage actual or perceived emotional distress. It also means being able to make it through an emotional incident without making it worse.
3. Interpersonal effectiveness: The ability to interact with others. When it comes to relationships it includes the practice of balancing priorities versus demands
4. Emotion Regulation: within the dialectical behavior therapy module, emotion regulation teaches how emotions work. One may learn skills to help manage emotions instead of being managed by them, reduce vulnerability to negative emotions and build positive emotional experiences.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT )is a practical short-term form of psychotherapy and is a two-way relationship between thoughts (cognitions) and behaviors. They both influence each other. CBT is used by psychotherapists to help people focus on the here and now and helps them make sense of what is happening and how these perceptions affect the way they feel.

Key Features of CBT

Some highlights of CBT:

• It is structured.
• Is time limited (6 – 20 sessions).
• Is problem-focused and goal-oriented.
• Teaches strategies and skills.
• Is based on a proactive, shared therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the client.

How CBT Can Help

CBT can help clients:

• Identify distortions in their thinking.

• See thoughts as ideas about what is going on, rather than as facts.
• Stand back from their thinking to consider situations from different viewpoints.

Three Levels of Cognition

There are three levels of Cognition:

• Conscious thoughts: Rational thoughts and choices that are made with full awareness.
• Automatic Thoughts: thoughts that flow rapidly, so that you may not be fully aware of them. Because they happen so fast, you may not be able to check on them for accuracy and relevance.
• Schemas: Core beliefs and personal rules for processing information. These schemas are shaped by influences in childhood and other life experiences.

The Behavior portion of the model can be changed using techniques such as self-monitoring, activity scheduling (for depression) and exposure and response prevention (for anxiety).

Treating Mental Health Conditions with CBT

Evidence suggests that CBT is effective in treating anxiety and depression. CBT has also been used to treat:

• Bipolar disorder

• Eating disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Schizophrenia and psychosis
• Specific phobias
• Substance use disorders

3. 12-Step Facilitation Therapy

The 12-step facilitation therapy is a strategy designed to increase the likelihood of someone with a lived experience using substances to be actively involved in the 12-step self-help group, thereby promoting abstinence. Three key ideas are used throughout the facilitation:

1. Acceptance: includes the realization that drug addiction is a chronic, progressive disease and that the person has no control over the use of it. There is also an understanding that willpower alone is not enough to overcome the problem and that abstinence is the only alternative.
2. Surrender: involves giving oneself over to a higher power, accepting the fellowship and support structure of other recovering addicted individuals and following the recovery activities laid out in the program.
3. Active involvement in 12-step program meetings and related activities.

The effectiveness of the 12-step program in treating alcohol dependence has been established while the groundwork has and is continually being laid in the research on the usefulness for other forms of substance abuse.

We’re Here for You

The bravest step is committing to the decision to go to therapy and there are many supports that can aid you on this journey to recovery. For therapy to be effective, work with a therapist that is right for you. Consulting your doctor can be a good step to finding the right path to recovery. The next, is feeling safe. Because every person deserves the right to basic human rights.

If you need help, our live agents can connect you with support services in your community. Contact us today.

1. “Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.” CAMH, www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/dialectical-behaviour-therapy.
2. Tull, Matthew. “Distress Tolerance in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 30 July 2013, www.verywellmind.com/distress-tolerance-2797294.
3. Donovan D.M., and Wells E.A. "Tweaking 12-step": The potential role of

12-Step self-help group involvement in methamphetamine recovery.

Addiction 102(Suppl. 1):121-129, 2007.