psychotherapy

saucysausage

not looking for medical advice just curious about what people think about psychotherapy

dar100

That's a pretty broad question. Any particular area/approach in mind?

saucysausage

just looking to develop a general consensus of what irish people think about the process of psychotherapy why someone would go/ why someone would not go, if someone has gone if they found it helpful or waste of time, is it a science, medicine or just a pile of mumbo jumbo is it seen as similar to reiki acupuncher or spiritual healing. In general what do people think about it?

Valmont

Unfortunately there are too many different types of psychotherapy for you to approach your question meaningfully. You may need to focus on a particular type, or refine your question further.

saucysausage

I am currently studying psychotherapy and I'm just trying to figure out what would attract someone to seek out therapy and what would put someone off and generally how irish people perceive therapy

dar100

As Valmont points out, far to much there for a meaningful reply.

Psychotherapy is a science if the therapist is operating from an evidence base. It is not a medicine, nor a medical approach. It is a field of psychology, applied psychology.

It is nothing like acupuncture, reiki or spiritual healing.

Most importantly, it works. However, it may not work for all people, at all times.

saucysausage

ok dar100 so you are of the opinion that psychotherapy works, its a science which is evidence based but it is not a medicine and I am speculating that you don't give much validity to acupuncture, reiki or spiritual healing as a means of curing or addressing you healing needs

dar100

I didn't say anything about the validity of acupuncture etc. You asked is it seen in the same light as these, I said no.

However, it is clear from your response where you're going with this post. So I will not be replying further.

saucysausage

sorry pal I'm not going anywhere with this post I really appreciate your opinion and I was just trying to get a grasp how people view therapy in an Irish setting I shouldn't have jump to conclusion with regard acupuncture etc I know how I feel about therapy I was trying to work out if people saw a difference alternative therapies and psychotherapy we have a long history in this country of underground healer etc and one of things i was trying to figure out was if people saw therapy as been a branch of this alternative forms of healing

saucysausage

ok does anyone else have an opinion on psychotherapy
is it good as in does it help
is it a waste of time
is it a medicine or science
does it achieve anything or would i be better off talking to a friend or priest or spiritual healer or just go for a run or a pint in the pub
I dont know what do people think?

Semele

There is a thread in The Ladies Lounge forum entitled "what has therapy done for you?". You might find it interesting.

saucysausage

Cheers will do sounds interesting

Labarbapostiza

saucysausage wrote: »

ok does anyone else have an opinion on psychotherapy

is it good as in does it help

If you really need it, and get good therapy, it can save your life.

is it a waste of time

Therapy is very difficult. People who come out saying "Dat was a load of nonsense" or "Dat was really stupid". A lot of these people are people who need therapy, but when faced with it, cop out. No one speaks to a therapist without believing they need to speak to a therapist.

is it a medicine or science

It's both and more. A problem of science and medicine is that the have nothing to say about meaning. Psychological traumas are often tied to meanings. If someone holds a knife to your throat and threatens to kill you if you don't have sex with them. Physically there will be no difference between the rape and consensual sex, but you could have a very serious psychological wound after a rape, that you would not have after consensual sex.

does it achieve anything or would i be better off talking to a friend or
priest or spiritual healer or just go for a run or a pint in the pub

All will work....after a fashion...if you believe they will work. But you're better speaking to a psychotherapist, if you're asking the question here.

It depends.

saucysausage

Thank you for your informative and we'll balance reply

Sensay

It works if you have a very well trained therapist who has gone to the depth of there own personal wounds

dar100

Sensay wrote: »

It works if you have a very well trained therapist who has gone to the depth of there own personal wounds

Have to got some evidence to support that?? Or is it personal opinion ?

Sensay

Yes I have all the evidence you want, what way would you like it presented ?

dar100

Sensay wrote: »

Yes I have all the evidence you are looking for .What way would you like it presented?

You're posting on a scientific forum, a psychology forum. If you are going to make bold statements, you need to have some research evidence to back up your assertions, otherwise they are just opinions. Which is why I'm asking the question??

Are you suggestion, that a therapy such as CBT, is not effective due to a practitioner not working on his on issues at a deep level?? If you are, you're clearly wrong

Valmont

I suppose Sensay is talking about the general idea that it is desirable for a therapist to have experience themselves of the therapeutic process?

Mathrew

saucysausage wrote: »

ok does anyone else have an opinion on psychotherapy
is it good as in does it help
is it a waste of time
is it a medicine or science
does it achieve anything or would i be better off talking to a friend or priest or spiritual healer or just go for a run or a pint in the pub
I dont know what do people think?

I have a sibling who have gone psychotherapy, and it does make him well and back to his normal/stronger thinking, so I think it's a good help and not a waste of time, so if I would be asked if I would recommend psychotherapy for a person who has mental disorder, I would would say yes, I would recommend.

JuliusCaesar

Sensay wrote: »

Yes I have all the evidence you want, what way would you like it presented ?

Give us the scientific studies. A link to the abstract, you can name the author/s, year of publication, the journal too if you like.

Like this: Hayes et al, 2002, claim that ACT is useful but that they haven't yet gathered enough evidence:

The evidence from correlational, component, process of change, and outcome comparisons relevant to the model are broadly supportive, but the literature is not mature and many questions have not yet been examined.

marty66

I'm about to qualify as a psychotherapist but still need to work on my accreditation. Any advice on where to get insurance and how much one would expect to pay?

voz es

saucysausage wrote: »

not looking for medical advice just curious about what people think about psychotherapy

You when posting here are asking an group of people who have a genuine interest in the the fields of mental health, most likely many would have undertaken study in this area.

I would assume that most would feel their is value in Psychotherapy and I am sure that would be to varying degrees, again this is an assumption and if you continued your studies you would see the fault in this, I can not know what others are thinking until they tell me.

Being that every person is individual and as humans ourselves it is unknown exactly how possible it is to be completely subjective on any of the forms of mental health theory success.

I would feel that is quite typical of a new scientific finding that it would reshape or dismiss a previous noted scientifically accepted fact. What is fair to say that all of the theories of mental health studies have had success.

It is also my feeling to say that there would be varying degrees of success in each of the methods, to further this i feel it would be very hard to prove that one way would have been better than the other for an individual after the individual perceives that the therapy that they received was a positive impact on their life.

I can only talk for myself and say that I felt a certain amount of fear prior to receiving therapy, a fear of being judged a fear of change, a fear of loosing control, I would also feel that others would relate to just that. I also have preconceptions of a quick fix and being frustrated at first with the process and that a therapist might well be just a con.

I will now directly answer your question and say that I feel that psychotherapy has been of great benefit to me in my own personal experience and development.