Types of Psychotherapy

Here you will see the main kinds of therapy from which more specific kinds of therapy have evolved.

Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies

This therapy focuses on changing problematic behaviours, feelings, and thoughts by understanding their deeper meaning and motivation.

Therapies that stem from psychoanalysis include:

• Play therapy – Usually performed with children, includes conducting therapy sessions during active play.
• Family therapy – Therapy conducted with one or more additional family members.
• Creative therapy: Narrative therapy, Art therapy, Music therapy, Animal-assisted therapy – a therapy that includes participating in a separate activity to help the patient open up.
• Open dialog therapy – therapy in which the patients get a say in their treatment and their family and social network are engaged in the client’s treatment.
• Dynamic interpersonal therapy – it is a type of structured talking therapy used to treat depression in the context of relationships.
• Jungian therapy – encourages clients to engage with characters from their dreams, fantasies or moods to help detach negative feelings from oneself.
• Primal therapy – helps clients relive and let go of past traumas through intense expression of emotion it makes them feel.

Behaviour Therapy

Being more focused on the behaviour aspect, behaviour therapy helps with phobias through “desensitisation”, and other mental health issues through a combined therapy called cognitive-behavioural therapy and interpersonal therapy.

Other therapies that stem from behaviour therapy include:

• Dialectal behavioural therapy – aims to help people who experience emotions more intensely than others to learn to manage them.
• Rational emotive behaviour therapy – focuses on helping people challenge irrational or unhealthy thoughts, emotions or behaviours.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy – focuses on accepting one’s thoughts and feeling without judgement.
• Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) – involves analysing successful strategies of other people and using them to reach a personal goal.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy focuses on changing problematic thought processes as this area of psychology holds the belief that problematic behaviour and emotions stem from how we think.

Other therapies that stem from cognitive therapy include:

• Cognitive analytic therapy – specifically helps with how one relates to themselves and others.

Humanistic Therapy

Humanistic psychologists hold the belief that people have free will and can make rational decisions for themselves, meaning humanistic therapy focuses on helping people achieve their maximum potential by identifying what is standing on their way.

Two main examples of humanistic therapy would be:

• Gestalt therapy – helps understand the importance of being aware in the here and now and accepting responsibility for your actions, they call this “organismic holism”.
• Existential therapy – helps realise your free will, self-determination and meaning for life.

Other therapies that stem from humanistic therapy include:

• Adlerian therapy – helps find meaning and belongingness by looking at childhood memories and perspectives.
• Solution-focussed brief therapy – focuses on helping overcome problems by looking at their strengths and positive behaviours.
• Emotionally focused therapy – helps solve emotional and relationship issues.

Integrative or Holistic Therapy

In integrative/holistic therapy, therapists look at their clients as a whole and integrate parts of different types of therapy into one to better suit the needs of their client.

Other therapies that stem from integrative or holistic therapy include:

• Eclectic/Integrative counselling – uses a variety of different therapeutic techniques to help the client.
• Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)​ – helps heal from distressing experiences and trauma.
• Psychosynthesis counselling – helps people realise their potential and grow as people.
• Systemic therapy​ – Family/couples therapy.
• Transactional analysis – explores how the clients’ experiences shaped their personality.
• Person-centred therapy – therapy where the client takes the lead while the therapist acts as a guide and a source of support.
• Phenomenological therapy – focuses on the client’s self-discovery.
• Transpersonal therapy – integrates spiritual traditions and rituals into modern therapy.

Others:

Coaching

Family therapy

Couples therapy

These aren’t exactly types of therapy in themselves but are rather terms used to describe how or with whom clinicians work.