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Talk
Therapy: How It Helps People With Anxiety
 Anyone
who has experienced the terrorizing mental, emotional, and physical
symptoms brought about by anxiety and other forms of anxiety
disorders, such as Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder,
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, and Separation Anxiety Disorder, knows
that talk therapy is a major part of the recovery process. Without a
strong professional therapist for support, an anxiety patient will
definitely have a much more difficult time getting better from this
frightening condition.
What is Talk
Therapy?
By definition, talk
therapy refers to different forms of psychotherapy that focuses
primarily on helping people with mental health issues like anxiety
disorder, understand and deal with the situations that are causing the
mental, emotional and physical distress. With the help of a licensed
therapist, talk therapy encourages clients to discuss their problems
and find solutions to these particular ones.
How does Talk
Therapy Works?
The client and the
therapist work closely together in a safe, non-judgmental and
absolutely confidential setting using a combination of psychotherapy
and counseling. Although a little bit of the past is discussed, the
dialogue mostly centers on prevailing issues and the feelings and
understanding associated with them. As the therapy gains ground, the
patient builds up a “mindful” awareness and better understanding of
his situation that will enable him to re-evaluate his problems and
change his perceptions.
What are the Types
of Talk Therapy?
Previously,
psychoanalysis was the earliest form of talk therapy. It was practiced
by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Over time, other types of talk therapy
were introduced and popularized including cognitive therapy,
behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic therapy.
1. Cognitive
therapy
Cognitive Therapy
is a form of talk therapy that helps individuals suffering from
anxiety change the way they perceive or process situations. People,
who have a negative outlook on things, are taught to look at the world
at a more positive light. In this therapy, the beliefs rooted on fears
and suppositions are meticulously examined and scrutinized to
establish their validity. The therapist helps the patient get through
this process. And when the belief has been proven to be inaccurate,
the therapist guides the patient to see the truth of things and
replace the wrong belief with a more accurate and realistic statement.
Since most patients are more inclined to embrace the worst-case
scenarios of things as truth, cognitive therapy corrects these
irrational fears. Gradually, the fear-producing thoughts are reduced,
if not eliminated.
2. Behavioral
Therapy
The intense fear produced by
anxiety disorders
often prevents sufferers from taking action to improve their
situation. The nagging fear of having to experience another attack
tends to rule over them, causing certain maladaptive behaviors to
arise such as locking oneself up in one’s apartment, avoiding public
places and contact with people, and obsessive counting or cleaning
practices. Because of these undesirable ways of dealing with the
stress put on by anxiety, behavioral therapy aims to replace them with
healthier types of behavior.
As the patient
assumes a more rational and correct way of thinking established in
cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy presents the proper active steps
that can be used to further promote the new belief and gear the
patient toward greater self- efficacy. This therapy focuses on reward
and punishment systems, aversion therapy, reinforcement and
biofeedback.
3. Interpersonal
Therapy
The core concept of
interpersonal therapy revolves around treating anxiety in patients
through examination and discussion of their past and present social
roles and their various interactions with friends, family, and
co-workers. This is based on the belief that interpersonal issues may
contribute profoundly to a person’s psychological difficulties. It
aims to modify a person’s interpersonal behavior by promoting
adaptation to current interpersonal roles and situations.
In the first stage
of the therapy, the therapist and the client work together to identify
which interpersonal relationships need looking at in depth. The
therapist builds a history of the client so that the client will
recognize where his emotional problems are coming from. After
establishing a good history, the therapist guides the client into
expressing his emotions in a healthier way. The client initiates this
act. Lastly, in the final stage, the therapist and the client
evaluates the progress made and whether issues have been settled or
not. Moreover, the client is encouraged to focus on the future and
what interpersonal modifications he can take to reinforce continuing
improvement.
4. Psychodynamic
Therapy
Psychodynamic
therapy attempts to get the patient to bring into consciousness all
the repressed and painful feelings stored in the subconscious part of
the brain. It is believed that people try to hold back these “true
feelings” as they are often too painful to deal with. People screen
these feelings with defensive mechanisms such as denial, reaction
formation, sublimation, and others alike to protect themselves from
these painful truths. Psychodynamic therapy believes that these
defenses are maladaptive forms of dealing with the problem and as such
causes the person’s psychological difficulties. By trying to unravel
the “true feelings”, people will be able to recover from their mental
condition.
Talk therapy is one
of the most common forms of anxiety disorder treatment. Aside from
that, it is also considered to be the most effective means of battling
mental health problems. With these credentials, people with anxiety
disorders should greatly consider taking a chance with these
therapies.
By Ryan
Rivera
Webpage by Paul Susic MA Licensed Psychologist Ph.D Candidate
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