Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Many people come looking for help with their lives by searching for a psychologist. That's a natural thing to do because the word 'psychologist' is well known to many people.
Psychologists often practice Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is a short-term form of treatment that looks closely at our behaviours and the way we think about them. It's a treatment that has been successful for a range of mental health conditions including anxiety and depression. It is very popular, at least currently, due to perceptions of cost effectiveness and the belief that it provides measurable results.
CBT - it's not the only approach
However, CBT has its critics. One of the most enduring criticisms of CBT is that it it doesn't put enough emphasis on your emotional life. CBT theory contends that what you feel is somehow not very important to why you do what you do and think what you think.
I can't agree. All I have learned about people suggests that the way we feel about things, our loves and fears, hates and pleasures are right at the centre of us. To sideline these in treatment is, in my view, to put aside the core of who we are.
Getting to the bottom of things
This comes to a second criticism of CBT - that it is short-term. It isn't designed for long-term exploration, for dealing with the deeper parts of us. Just when you are starting to settle into the treatment, to become comfortable with the therapist and build up a sense of trust in the person helping you, the treatment comes to an end. CBT is one of the things I'm trained in and use it in some circumstances, but because research indicates that it isn't always the best approach, I use other techniques as well.
This is where psychodynamic psychotherapy comes in. The word 'psychodynamic' simply means that we are a mixture of conscious and unconscious processes. It is a longer-term approach that can take the necessary time to look at deeper issues. Like anything, it's a matter of taste and choice. It isn't what everyone is looking for, which is why we need to match the treatment to the person - not just apply the same treatment to every person. In my experience, and in the professional literature, psychodynamic psychotherapy has been proven to be very effective for those seeking long-term, deep change - that's why I use it.
