All psychotherapies have a common goal: to further the individual’s personality development towards maturity, competence and self-actualization. In this way, it is aimed to increase the insight in the person, to resolve the conflicts that make the person inadequate, to accept himself, to learn more efficient techniques to cope with the problems, and to strengthen the self structure in terms of competence and confidence. So, do modern psychotherapies really work?
The first therapy outcome studies were initiated by Smith and Glass in 1980. In the study conducted, it was observed that those who were treated were 80% better than those who were not. Then, in 1995, psychologist Martin Seligman conducted a study with 4100 people who received treatment in the last 3 years;
a) the ability to help with the problems of the treatment,
b) how satisfied they are with the treatment they received,
c) compared their general mood after treatment. In the results of working;
- 90% of people reported feeling better,
- There was no difference between drug + psychotherapy and only psychotherapy,
- No psychotherapy method was found superior to the other,
- It has been observed that treatments conducted by psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers provide greater improvement than family physicians and marriage counselors.
Finally, 50 psychotherapy effectiveness studies conducted so far by the American Psychological Association (APA) (2012) have been comprehensively evaluated, and as a result of the evaluation, it has been seen that psychotherapy is an effective method that helps reduce the overall need for health services and improves health in the long run. According to the results obtained;
- The average effects of psychotherapy are greater than those produced by many medical treatments. Psychotherapy increases work productivity and reduces psychiatric hospitalizations.
- Psychotherapy teaches patients to develop life skills as well as the treatment process. The results of psychotherapy are longer lasting and less harmful side effects than psychopharmacological treatments.
If psychotherapies work, how do they promote psychological well-being?
Although it is not very clear by which change processes psychological recovery occurs today, some experimental findings provide clear data about the recovery process. For example, Prochaska and Norcross (1983) found that there are 5 basic processes of change that can be valid in all psychotherapies. These;
1. Awareness: Basically, it is aimed to increase the awareness of the person himself and his environment. It is to increase the knowledge experience on subjects such as one’s self-perception and environment, social norms and rules.
2. Emotional discharge (catharsis): In therapy sessions, the person gets rid of their emotional inhibition and has the opportunity to live and express their emotions freely.
3. Choice: Psychotherapy is the reorganization of the person’s inner world, and in this way, the person makes new choices between events in the outer world and behaviors in the inner world. Therefore, choosing and choosing is one of the important processes that enable change in psychotherapy.
4. Changing conditioned stimuli: The person’s reactions and attitudes are changed to stimuli that are thought to guide or shape the behavior.
5. Trace control:
It is determined under which conditions the problematic behavior is repeated or not, and then the behavior is changed.
resources
American Psychological Association. (2012). Research Shows Psychotherapy Is Effective But Underutilized [Press release]. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/08/psychotherapy-effective
Prochaska, JO, & Norcross, JC (1983). Contemporary psychotherapists: A national survey of characteristics, practices, orientations, and attitudes. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 20(2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088487b
Seligman, MEP (1995). The effectiveness of psychotherapy: The Consumer Reports study. American Psychologist, 50(12), 965 974. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003066X.50.12.965
