3 Types Of Therapy For The Treatment Of Depression
Posted on: 9 February 2021
While medications can help ease the symptoms of depression in the short-term, for longer-term recovery, most people need to spend some time working with a therapist. Every patient's needs are different, so every person's therapy will look a little different. However, there are three major types of therapy that are often recommended and used for depression treatment.
Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on identifying your thoughts and then working to change those thoughts. For example, you may identify that you tend to react with doom-and-gloom thinking when you are not sure what will happen and that this contributes to your depression. Your therapist can help teach you to re-wire your brain to look on the bright side instead, which will help ease your depression over time. They may do this by guiding you through exercises in which you re-characterize scenarios that, at first, seem negative. They may also talk with you about things that happened to you recently and how you may look at those things more positively. As time goes on, positive thinking will become more natural to you, and as you practice more positive thinking, your depression should ease.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy operates under the idea that depression is often linked to conflicts and negative experiences that happened long ago, during childhood or early adulthood. Your therapist will guide you in thinking back on experiences that framed the way you see the world and that have therefore contributed to your depression. As you identify these key events, you will work to re-visit each one, talk about how you can re-frame it in your mind, and talk about the positive lessons you can instead choose to take from the experience. Psychodynamic therapy leads to greater self-awareness and emotional control.
Interpersonal Therapy
Some cases of depression are closely linked to problems in relationships. Maybe, for example, you feel depressed because you are unable to communicate your needs clearly to your partner or family members. Your therapist can teach you strategies to improve your communication and relationships so that you are better able to get the support you need out of those relationships. You may benefit from attending interpersonal therapy with your partner or family members, but this is not always necessary.
Therapy can be incredibly helpful for the long-term treatment of depression. Talk with a therapist near you to devise a personalized approach that includes one or more of the depression therapy styles above.
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