Different types of therapy
The human mind is a complicated place. Eighty-six billion neurons fire off constant messages. Our past experiences forge pathways that reinforce some messages and de-prioritize others. Our genetics affect the makeup of our brains and our hormones, adding another layer of complexity.
Making sense of this complicated web is unique for everyone – and that’s why there are so many different types of therapy.
Like life itself, getting your mental health on track is a journey. The first step is often deciding to go to therapy, then making a decision regarding which of the many types of therapy out there are right for you.
Psychoanalytic therapy
Psychoanalytic therapy is built on the idea that psychological problems manifest in our unconscious minds. In this kind of therapy, patients delve into their own subconscious in order to bring their repressed conflicts to light and release suppressed emotions. Psychoanalytic therapy is a long-term approach and many patients stay in therapy for years.
Techniques used in psychoanalytic therapy:
- Rorschach inkblots
- Free word association
- Dream analysis
- Examining early attachments
Types of therapy within this category include:
Psychodynamic therapy: This is a less-intensive form of psychoanalysis that focuses on the patient’s relationship to the outside world as well as their inner thoughts and feelings.
Couples therapy: By exploring each individual’s past experiences and subconscious thoughts, psychoanalytic couples therapy aims to heal the relationship.
Art therapy: The principles of psychoanalysis naturally lend themselves to expression of the inner mind through art.
Play therapy: Children naturally express themselves through play. Freud’s daughter Anna applied the principles of psychoanalysis to play in order to reach children.
Psychoanalytic therapy is commonly used for:
✓ Self-destructive behavior
✓ Relationship issues
✓ Eating disorders
Humanistic therapy
Humanistic therapy is based on a deep belief that being our authentic selves is the best way to feel truly fulfilled. It is patient-centered and patient-led. This type of therapy will focus on the patient’s emotions and experiences, but unlike psychoanalytic therapy, humanistic therapy focuses on the present, not the past.
Techniques used in humanistic therapy:
- Unstructured interviews
- Open-ended questionnaires
- Validation and verification
- Q-sort method: A series of predetermined statements the therapist uses to track a patient’s progress
Types of therapy within this category include:
Existential therapy: In this type of therapy, the patient explores the meaning they give to their experiences. They learn to take responsibility for the effect of their own decisions.
Interpersonal therapy: The key to interpersonal therapy is unconditional acceptance. With a strong client-therapist relationship, the patient is able to examine limiting beliefs created by past criticism and disapproval from others.
Gestalt therapy: A Gestalt therapist creates a feeling of the “here and now” to encourage the patient to not only talk about their emotions, but re-experience them.
Humanistic therapy is used for:
✓ Depression and anxiety
✓ Self-destructive behavior
✓ Relationship issues
✓ Schizophrenia
Behavioral therapy
Behavioral therapy begins with the assumption that we are all born a blank slate – or as Tony would say, as sponges ready to soak up our experiences. This type of therapy believes that all behavior is learned. When we undergo faulty conditioning, like a bad childhood or a traumatic experience, we learn abnormal behavior as an adaptive mechanism. Just as we learn bad behavior, we can unlearn it.
Techniques used in behavioral therapy:
- Aversion therapy: Learning to associate the bad behavior with a negative experience
- Flooding: Exposing the patient directly to their fears
- Desensitization: Exposing the patient gradually to their fears
- Positive reinforcement
- Challenging irrational beliefs
Types of therapy within this category include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy: CBT techniques focus on examining and reframing beliefs that lead to self-destructive behavior, and then taking action to overcome them.
Addiction therapy: Behavioral therapy for addiction focuses on positive reinforcement of desired behaviors. Patients will also learn life skills for coping with stress and negative emotions.
Child therapy: This is one of the most commonly used types of therapy for children. It focuses on redirecting actions by rewarding desired behavior and ignoring undesired behavior.
Behavioral therapy is used for:
✓ Phobias
✓ Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
✓ Depression and bipolar disorder
✓ Substance abuse
✓ Insomnia
Neuro-associative conditioning
Tony has decades of experience working with many different types of psychological trauma and disorders. He’s deeply knowledgeable about psychological strategy and different types of therapy, and he’s crafted his own that’s different from anything out there. Neuro-associative conditioning pulls from several proven therapeutic models to create an entirely new way of reframing our thoughts and actions to transform our lives.
The six steps of neuro-associative conditioning are:
Step One: Decide
Get laser-focused on what you want. Set goals and write them down. Determine what’s holding you back.
Step Two: Leverage
Fully commit to your mission by focusing on the massive pain you will cause yourself if you don’t achieve your goals – and the massive pleasure that awaits if you do.
Step Three: Interrupt
Examine your limiting beliefs and learn to disrupt patterns and behaviors that do not serve you.
Step Four: Create
Replace your old patterns with empowering alternatives that have a positive effect on your life.
Step Five: Condition
Carve out a new pathway in your brain by rewarding yourself for actions that are in line with your goals.
Step Six: Test
Discover the strengths and weaknesses of your new patterns through practice and testing and make modifications to strengthen them even more.
Techniques used in neuro-associative conditioning:
Change your state: To interrupt your existing patterns, use your physiology. Breathe deeply. Smile. Adopt a confident posture. You’ll begin associating the stimuli with positivity.
Scramble pattern: Imagine the problem as a movie you can manipulate – changing characters, adding music or speeding it up. This changes the sensations you associate with the problem.
Visualization: Goal visualization is a proven technique used by athletes and many other high achievers to create a feeling of deep belief in themselves.
Future pacing: Imagine yourself performing the action in the future and evaluate your results. Have you mastered the new behavior? What can you change in order to master it?
Neuro-associative conditioning therapy is used for:
✓ Low self-esteem
✓ Self-destructive behavior
✓ Substance abuse
✓ Anxiety
Whether you have a mental health diagnosis or are going through tough times, therapy can help you work through your issues and create new, healthy behaviors. Determining which type of therapy is right for you will depend on your diagnosis, if any, and what you wish to get out of your experience. You’ve already taken an essential first step by learning about the different types of therapy. Now it’s time to get started on the path to healing.
Want to begin living a more fulfilling life?
No matter which kind of therapy you choose, healing begins with overcoming your limiting beliefs. Discover this powerful technique today.