Page 239 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Unit 21: Psychotherapy: Meaning and Process

lack of a sense of self-esteem. The self is perceived in relation to the establishment of boundaries and Notes
the differentiations of self from others (or the lack of boundaries and differentiations).

Psychodynamic therapy is distinguished from psychoanalysis in several particulars,
including the fact that psychodynamic therapy need not include all analytic
techniques and is not conducted by psychoanalytically trained analysts.
Psychodynamic therapy is also conducted over a shorter period of time and with
less frequency than psychoanalysis.

21.2.5 Family Therapy
Family therapy views views a person’s symptoms as taking place in the larger context of the family.
Just as a particular department in a business organization may suffer because of the problems in
another department, a person with depression may be responding to larger family issues. For example,
a depressed adolescent’s adolescent, symptoms may be related to her parents’ marital problems.
Family therapy is a style where cognitive, behavior or interpersonal therapy may be employed.
However, it is most often used with interpersonal therapy. Some special techniques of family therapy
include :
• Genogram : A genogram is a family tree constructed by the therapist. It looks at past relationship
and events and what impact these have on the person’s current emotional technique.
• Systemic Interpretation : Views depression as a symptom of a problem in the larger family.
Example : 16-year-old Billy’s getting into trouble in school and staying out at night are viewed
as unconscious attempts to shore up his parents’ failing marriage. It is noted in the sessions
that the only time his parents get along and work together as a team is when they are dealing
with Billy’s problems.
• Communication Training : Dysfunctional comminication patterns within the family are
identified and corrected. People are taught how to listen, ask questions and respond non-
defensively.

21.2.6 Group Therapy
Group therapy provides psychotherapy treatment in a format where there is typically one therapist
and six to twelve participants with related problems. Sometimes a therapist may recommed group
therapy over individual psychotherapy for a variety of reasons. It may be that the group format is
better suited for the person or the concern they are dealing with, or that the specific type of treatment
has a group therapy component (such as dialectical behavior therapy).
People in group therapy improve not only from the interventions of the therapist, but also from
observing others in the group and receiving feedback from group members. The group format,
while not providing the one-on-one attention of individual formats, has several advantages.
Similar to family therapy, group therapy is a style that can incorporate any of the psychotherapy
schools. The advantages of group therapy include :
• Increased feedback: Group therapy can provide the patient with feedback from other people.
Getting different perspectives is often helpful in promoting growth and change.
• Modeling: By seeing how others handle similar problems, the patient can rapidly add new
coping methods to his or her behaviors. This is beneficial in that it can give the patient a
variety of perspectives on what seem to work and when.
Example: Mary listens to Joan talk about how telling her husband that he hurt her feelings was
more productive than simply getting angry at him and not speaking. As she listens, Mary

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