Psychodynamic Vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Therapy is a form of treatment for mental illness that involves talking with a trained therapist to solve personal problems. There are quite a few types of talk therapy that are based on different psychological theories and methods. Psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are two of these types of talk therapy. Psychodynamic therapy grew out of Freudian theories and is based upon what is hiding in the unconscious mind. It uses past experiences as an explanation for current issues. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) seeks to identify and change destructive thought processes into positive ones, therefore changing the behavior of the patient. Those with depression may choose to do therapy as treatment instead of medicines, and it

The client and therapist define goals for the session and then they work together to achieve them. The client will get homework for in between sessions, such as writing in a journal each time they get upset. CBT usually includes 4 steps which are identifying the problem, becoming aware of your thoughts or feelings about the problem, identifying negative thinking, and challenging negative thinking (“Cognitive Behavioral Therapy”). The client will learn how to change their thinking and therefore change their behavior. CBT can teach a client to avoid destructive behaviors and replace those behaviors with positive ones. It can also teach a client how to calm down with relaxation techniques. These coping strategies can be used whenever the client is having negative thoughts. A hypothetical example of cognitive behavioral therapy is a woman who doesn’t want to get out of bed in the mornings because she is depressed. The woman and therapist will set goals to accomplish, such as getting up early every day for one week. They will both discuss the problem and the therapist will give the client homework to find something she enjoys doing in the mornings to look forward to. The client may realize that the reason she doesn’t want to get out of bed is because she is afraid of failure at work. The therapist will teach the woman to replace her negative thinking of “I’m not going to accomplish anything at work” to a more positive “I am going to do my best at work”. The woman also learns that when this doesn’t work and she starts panicking, she should take deep breaths and clear her mind. When the woman knows that she won’t be a failure, she grows confidence and is able to come out of depression. She is able to replace her negative thinking with positive thinking and use coping strategies each time she gets upset.