Psychotherapists Today

Sigmund Freud was among the first medical doctors to conclude

that the milder forms of mental illness were not the cause of a faulty brain but rather the result of a faulty mind. Thus he birthed "talk therapy. " Now 121 years later we have at least 10 major ways of doing psychotherapy, and a number of different mental health professionals who conduct it. These include: Psychoanalysts, Psychiatrists, Psychogists, Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, Pastoral Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and more. Only psychoanalysts see patients on the couch 5 times per week. The rest of us see patients sitting in chairs 1-2 times per week. And we do both long term therapy that lasts for 4-6 years and short term therapy that can be as few as 12 sessions. There is no way that Freud could have conceived of mental health treatment as it is done today. He did hope, however, that in the future there would be therapy available for everyone, and that medicine would become an adjunct to the "talking cure. "( Continued next time. )