Comprehensive biological treatment
Comprehensive biological treatment
Psychotherapy is an individualized yet comprehensive biological treatment; it does not target one receptor, one or two neurotransmitters, or single modulators; it taps into all the biological regulations underlying complex brain responses (Javanbakht & Alberini, 2019). Further, psychotherapy has been found to be an effective treatment method for a variety of mental health disorders such as anxiety, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It also affects regions associated with emotions, emotion regulation, fear, and reward are associated psychotherapy, and psychotherapy affects the functioning of these regions. Psychotherapy alters the functioning of activity regions which are associated with emotion regulation, negative emotion, reward, and fear with such activity regions responding to psychotherapy.
While psychotherapy has been proven to be an effective treatment approach for mental health disorders factors such as religion, culture, and the socioeconomic background are likely to affect a person’s perspective on the value of psychotherapy treatments. Specifically, religion impacts an individual’s perspective on psychotherapy in different ways (Baruth & Manning, 2016). For instance, an extremely religious person may prefer to seek spiritual intervention, such as prayers for healing rather than psychotherapy. Individuals may also use religion as coping mechanisms instead of psychotherapy. In this sense, spirituality has an immeasurable role in human’s understanding of health and the concept of healing. Culture also influences an individual’s perspective regarding psychotherapy. While some cultures, such as the western, welcome psychotherapy, others view it as inacceptable and to them attending psychotherapy sessions is highly disregarded.
Socioeconomic status might equally impact an individual’s perspective on psychotherapy (Adler et al., 2016). Some psychotherapy sessions can be fairly costly to some people from low socioeconomic status, hence their capacity to take part may be hindered. Similarly, those who can afford psychotherapy sessions may view it as an effective option and authentically attend the sessions.
Psychotherapy is a proven method in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders in both the individual and group setting. Individual therapy consists of the application of a therapeutic process with an individual and the treating clinician and group therapy applies the same concept but consists of two or more individuals seeking therapeutic intervention. Regardless of the setting, the practicing clinician muse be aware of the legal and ethical implications that come with treating clients in both individual and group psychotherapy sessions (Ware & Dillman-Taylor, 2014). When providing services to clients in the group or family setting versus those in the individual therapy environment, the therapeutic environment might be impacted if these factors are not taken into account. The therapist must be aware that the therapeutic dynamic is altered when dealing with a group versus individual therapy session. Client trust and therapeutic alliance will need to established not only with the group facilitator but also with the group participants to meet the goals of the formation of the particular group session. Group members should feel free to interact within the therapeutic environment without fear of intimidation, judgment or unnecessary disclosure of their private thoughts or experiences. The principles of interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, and catharsis are all impacted by some of these considerations. The psychotherapist will also be aware of their abilities in providing effective treatment using the appropriate treatment modalities (Wheeler, 2014)
References
Adler, N. E., Boyce, T., Chesney, M. A., Cohen, S., Folkman, S., Kahn, R. L., & Syme, S. L. (2016). Socioeconomic status and health: the challenge of the gradient. American psychologist, 49(1), 15.
Baruth, L. G., & Manning, M. L. (2016). Multicultural counseling and psychotherapy: A lifespan approach. Routledge.
Javanbakht, A., & Alberini, C. M. (2019). Editorial: Neurobiological Models of Psychotherapy. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 13, 144. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00144
Ware, J.N., & Dillman-Taylor, D. (2014). Concerns about confidentiality: The application of ethical decision-making within group play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 23(3), 172-186. doi:10.1037/a0036667
Wheeler, K. (Eds.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how to guide for evidence-based practice. New York, NY: Springer.
