Common Misconceptions About Psychotherapy

Fiction often has some ideas about treatment. How many writers do not realize how inaccurate how many writers use them intentionally? Below is information on the six most common and more standard current practices.

1. lying on the couch

Reality: Therapy clients do not lie on the couch. Some therapists & # 39; offices don't even have a sofa.

Where did this come from? Sigmund Freud put the patient on the sofa so that he could sit in a chair behind the patient's head. why? There is no profound psychological reason-he just didn't like the person watching him.

There are many reasons why modern treatment clients are not happy with this. Imagine talking to someone about difficult or embarrassing experiences and not just seeing them, but reacting silently. Why do you want to return?

An ideal treatment setup, and they are actually teaching this in graduate school, but it is common to turn both chairs inward [giving or taking about 10 degrees] at an angle of about 20 degrees. In many cases, the therapist and the client will face each other because they face each other in the chair, but in this setup the client doesn't feel like they are facing.

Even if there is a sofa in the room, the therapist's chair almost always rotates at an angle to it.

2. The therapist analyzes everyone

Reality: The therapist does not analyze people more than the average person.

Ironically, only people trained in Freud's “lie on patient and freely associate mother” approach [aka psychoanalysis] are taught to analyze. All other therapists are taught to understand why people do things, but understanding them requires a lot of energy. Frankly, the therapists are usually caring people who want to help clients, but in their daily lives they deal with their problems and don't necessarily have the time or space to care About the problems and behaviors of all others.

And the last thing most therapists want to hear in their spare time is strangers. problem. The therapist gets rewarded for reasons to deal with other people's problems!

3. Therapist has sex with client

Reality: The therapist will never have sex with the client, or the client's friends and family, if they want to retain a license.

This includes sex therapists. Sex therapists do not see clients having sex or ask them to experiment in the office. Sex therapy is often aimed at educating and dealing with relationships. Because these are two of the most common reasons for having sexual problems.

The therapist is not expected to have sex with previous clients. The rule is that if two years have passed and the former client and therapist collided with each other and somehow defeated it [ie this was not planned], the therapist will not be expelled from the professional organization and the license will be revoked It was. But in most cases, other therapists consider them suspicious.

The reasoning behind this is simple-the therapist creates a difference in power that is difficult to overcome by listening and supporting without any problems or needs.

To tell the truth, the therapist's role in their office is only a side of who they really are. The therapist puts all the attention on the client without complaining about his concerns and anxiety.

When people want to be friends, they usually want to be friends with a therapist rather than a person. True friendship involves sharing power and deficiencies and taking care of each other to some extent. Knowing the therapist as a real person is fantastic because now I want to talk about myself and my problems.

4. It's all about your mother [or childhood, or past ...]

Reality: One area of ​​psychotherapy theory focuses on childhood and unconsciousness. There is no rest.

Psychodynamic theory maintained Freud's psychoanalytic belief that early childhood and unconscious mechanisms are important for later problems, but most modern practitioners have found that many of us in our daily lives Important to know that you are under the influence of.

Some therapists tell you that the past is not important if your past is not directly related to the current problem. Some believe that past wide-ranging discussions are an attempt to escape responsibility [Gestalt therapy] or to stop actively working on change [some types of cognitive behavioral theory]. Some people believe that the social and cultural environment in which we live today is what causes problems [systems, feminists, multicultural therapy].

5. ECT is used to punish bad and painful patients

Reality: Electroconvulsive treatment [referred to in the past as electroshock treatment] is a rare last resort for more traditional treatments such as drugs and shelters for clients who went in and out of hospital for suicide The treatment did not work. In some cases, the client is very depressed and cannot work to improve until her brain chemistry works more effectively.

When ECT is being considered, some clients want to try it. They tried everything else but just wanted to feel better. When death feels like your only other choice, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea that someone will carry a painless current through your brain while you sleep.

ECT is painless and does not shake or sway. Patients are given muscle relaxants, but they are scared to feel paralysis and are placed under general anesthesia for a short time. Electrodes are usually attached to only one side of the head, and current is introduced in short pulses, causing a major seizure. The doctor monitors the electrical activity on the screen.

Due to seizures, the brain produces and uses serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are low brain chemicals when someone is depressed. Some wake up feeling that miracles have occurred. Usually several sessions are required to keep the changes. You can then switch individuals to antidepressants and other drugs.

ECT is less dangerous than other procedures performed under general anesthesia, and many of the potential side effects [confusion, memory impairment, nausea] can be the result of anesthesia as much as the treatment itself.

6. “Schizophrenia” is the same as having “multiple personalities”

Reality: Schizophrenia is a biological disorder with a genetic basis. It usually causes hallucinations and delusions [strong ideas that violate cultural norms and are not backed by reality], resulting in a decrease in normal daily function. Some people with schizophrenia periodically become tense, delusional, or uncoordinated. They may speak strangely, using tangent words [verbal and often wandering in ways that don't make sense to the listener], nelogism [composing words], clang associations [rhyming], or In extreme cases, a word salad [a sentence that sounds like a bunch of gathered words and is not grammatically correct].

Dissociative identity disorder [formerly multiple personality disorder] is caused by trauma. In an abusive situation, the normal defense mechanism of dissociation can be used to “disconnect” the trauma memory. In DID, a split also includes a portion of the “core” personality associated with that memory or set of memories. Isolated identities often have their own names, characteristics, and proverbs. And if it ages at all, it may or may not age at the same rate as other personalities [or personalities].

Therefore, calling yourself “schizophrenia” or “schizophrenia” or “schizophrenia” is meaningless if it means having ego or contradicting personality traits [and psychologically] Guaranteed to make savvy savvy]