Psychotherapy
Therapy, rather psychotherapy is generally conducted by verbal communication between the therapist and the client. Depending on the orientation of the therapist, it may be active on both parts or one of the individuals in this dichotomy may take a more vocal role. In psychoanalysis the therapist is less active, and the client is encouraged to do most of the talking. In CBT the therapist takes a more active role.
Depending on the specific problem i.e., psychotic disorder medications may be indicated. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is considered the therapy of choice for many disorders, among them depression and PTSD. Other therapies such hypnosis and EFT are also used to address these common problems.
Treatment as multidimensional as the problem
One of the problems with conventional psychotherapy is the fact that it addresses only one dimension of the problem, the mental aspect. Most disorders, PTSD for example are not, one dimensional. Note that common statements by individuals with PTSD - "I left a part of me there." "I feel as if I had a huge hole in me.", "I hear the voice of my abuser.", "I can't stand to be touched there." Various aches, and some chronic pain can be related to trauma, as the physical body may store the memory of a trauma.
Trauma is an assault on the mind, body, and soul or spirit of the individual, and part of healing the whole person is addressing the mind, body and spirit which have been injured.
Most cultures of the world acknowledge this connection, but the dominate culture of the United States with the lineage of the Puritan forefathers continues to relate back to the "pull yourself up by the boot straps" mentality. In simply providing talk therapy and possibly medications to assist with the problem, we continue to fail to address the many parts of the problem. Instead we wrap it up as quickly as possible and fail to acknowledge that the whole person was injured and as such treatment should address the person as a whole.
As a clinician, social worker and therapist I continue to explore ways to provide treatment to the total individual. I believe that by providing hypnosis and Reiki as additional treatment modalities is a step toward this goal
