Effectiveness of Psychotherapy in Treatment of Mood Disorders - Essay Example

? of Introduction Psychotherapy refers to therapeutic interactions that take place between someone who has been trained professionally and a client. In psychotherapy, the main problems that are addressed are of a psychological nature that involves extreme cases of maladaptive behaviors. Psychotherapy has long been confused with counseling of which there is a major difference between the two (Hugo, 2004). In psychotherapy, the psychotherapist takes the lead in assisting persons with the psychological disorder and involves cases that are of extreme degree of maladaptive behavior. On the other hand, counseling involves the client taking a lead in solving their problems and is concerned with maladaptive behaviors that are mild and can be treated by talk therapy. For a long, psychotherapy has been applied by a psychologist in handling extreme cases of maladaptive behaviors. The purpose of this research paper is to find out the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic approaches in dealing with psychological disorders and emotional distress. Psychotherapy and its aims The main goal in psychotherapeutic approaches is increasing an individual’s sense of psychological well being. Through a relationship that is experiential, psychotherapists are able to employ various techniques such as dialogue, behavior change and communication skills that are directed towards improving the mental health of their patients (Sharf, 2012). It is also practiced with people of knowledge in different fields such as psychiatry, clinical psychology and counseling psychology. The most common method that is used by most psychotherapists is a conversation with their clients while others may use written, drama or music as a form of communicating. The skill that is used depends on the age of person and the degree of the disorder that the person is suffering from. Objective of the research In this research, we explore the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic approaches in treating psychological disorders with a special focus on mood disorders. In so doing, the paper will explore various ways psychotherapy has been used to treat mood disorders and investigate how effective they have been. History of psychotherapy Psychotherapy that is theory based began in the 19th century with the inception of the psychoanalytic school of thought and since then, other approaches have been able to come up and others continue to be developed with time (Smith, 2010). At the beginning, it was used to respond to people who could not cope well with their situations and needed some help on how they could properly interact with others. Other psychotherapeutic approaches are designed to treat the patient with a medical model and they do not adhere to symptom based model that is used to cure most illnesses (APA, 2010). There are various systems of psychotherapy that have been developed over time. Psychoanalytic system Psychoanalysis was the first approach to treating maladaptive behavior that was called psychotherapy. In the system verbalization of thoughts on the mind of the patient through free will association and dreams allow the psychotherapist to find out the conflict in the unconscious part of the patient’s mind. Behavioral system In this system the main focus of the therapist is to change the maladaptive behavior that is posted by the client, and improve his emotional responses in the process and how he interacts with others in his social cycle. Cognitive behavioral system The objective of this system is to find out the maladaptive cognition that is causing the client to have emotions that are negative, and displaying behavior that is problematic. Humanistic system The system emerged as a result of reacting to behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The focus of the system is the human context in terms of individual development and rejects determinism that is advocated for by the two other systems and its emphasis is on positive growth (Ghaemi, 2008). It is based on a school of thought that human beings have the capacity that is necessary in maximizing their potential. Therefore, humanistic therapists are concerned on how all these tendencies can be flourish and get the patient back on track. Mood disorders In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders (DSM IV), moods disorders refer to a group disorders whose main underlying feature is a disturbance in the mood of a person. They were at first referred to as affective disorders by Henry Maudsley, an English psychiatrist and later named mood disorders because it refers to an internal emotional expression while the original term referred to outward expression of these emotions. Based on whether an individual has ever had a manic or a hypo manic episode in his experience, there are two broad categories of mood disorders that are recognizable namely major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Major Depressive disorder Individuals with disorder always experience major depressive episodes that keep on recurring from time to time and are extremely susceptible to suicide (Power, 2006). The main symptom of this disorder is a continuous thought about suicide and attempts that are made towards that direction. They cut across all the ages since research has indicated that infants as young as 6 month have the experience. An increase in weight and appetite and mood reactivity is some of other symptoms of the disorder. In addition to that, excessive sleep and a feeling of heaviness in the limbs also serve as an indicator that the individual suffers from the disorder. Bipolar disorder This is a mood disorder that was originally know as manic depression and is its symptoms include an alternation between periods of mania and depression. It is divided into two various types, that include bipolar I, which is characterized by the presence of manic or mixed episodes that have been accompanied with or without major depressive episodes. Bipolar II on the other hand is a mood disorder that is as a result hypomanic and depressive episodes that are intermittent and can be accompanied with mixed episodes at some time (Hagop, 1984). Cyclothymia is another kind of bipolar disorder that has recurrent hypomanic, and episodes that are dysthymic but lacks full manic or depressive episodes in them. There are other bipolar disorders that are not specified in the system of classification of mental disorders. These are mood disorders that are induced by substance such as alcohol and other drugs. In this research, the effectiveness of psychotherapy in treating these disorders will be explored. History of mood disorders and their treatment According to evolutionary psychologists, mood disorders have been part and parcel of human beings and their evolution process. In their argument, a low mood helped human beings to cope with situations in the activity that they sought to pursue their goals (Levin, 2008). A high motivation was thought to increase chances of engaging in activities that could result into harm, and hence keeping a low profile could increase chances of survival. Psychotherapy and Bipolar disorder There are about 5 psychotherapy approaches that have been shown to benefit persons with bipolar disorder. The approaches that have been known to be used are bipolar specific cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy with social rhythm therapy and family focused therapy. In mood disorder treatment, psychotherapy is a process that involves listening, providing perspective and explains (Peacock, 2008). The main purpose is normally to ensure that the intervention will reduce the recurrence of the depressive condition that is normally caused by the disorder. In the initial psychotherapeutic treatments under treatment of the disease, time limitation is necessary so as to ensure that the patient does not stay under the condition for long. In many primary care giving centers, supportive psychotherapy has been key in assisting those who have been affected to cope with the situation. It is focused towards a realistic evaluation of the relationship that exists, and how the relationship has led to the current mood that is being observed in the patient. The psychological intervention is meant to assist in the argument that the patient is having a dispute within himself, and the only way to ensure that his moods are not provoked is by ensuring that that the dispute has been resolved. Knowledge has been able to be expanded about the influence that mood disorders has and psychotherapeutic approaches have continued to be used in the treatment of disorders (Mountain, 2003). Patients benefit a lot from psychotherapy and long term treatments have been found to do better that short term ones (Candida, 2005). Psychotherapy alone has been found to differ a lot in medication when it comes to treatment of mood disorders. All the modalities of psychotherapy have been found to better in the process of treating patients who have been affected by changes in their mood. Psychiatrists, psychologists and other social workers have applied psychotherapeutic techniques on people with mood disorders and this has been tested to work effectively in the process. Various efficacy and effectiveness studies have been conducted by various people and organizations and their studies indicate that indeed, psychotherapy is effective in treatment of mood disorders (Hagop, 1984). The effectiveness of a psychotherapeutic approach to mood disorders can be proved by the way that it is carried out on patients who display the characteristics above. As a health treatment, it is not an activity that has a fixed duration but is one that keeps going until the patient improves or quits the process (Lakshmi, 2011). The main regard in the treatment of psychotherapeutic nature is how well the patient is doing in terms of adjustments in mood disorder treatment. Psychotherapy is self correcting in nature in that if one technique that has been applied on a patient is not working, another technique is applied and progress in this case is assessed. The technique is not in any way confined to any modality and is not supposed to be delivered in any fixed manner thus being appropriate in the treatment of mood disorders. In mood disorder treatment psychotherapy is effective because of the how the therapist handles the patient. First of all, the client is the one who seeks for the relationship with the therapist and hence he is screened to determine the most appropriate therapist. There are many psychotherapists who work as independent practitioners, and it is easier for those who have a problem with mood disorder to access their services. They are not passive participants in the whole process of treatment, and what is offered in treatment is partly decided by them thereby rendering the program effective. As earlier on discussed, mood disorder patients are those with multiple problems and psychotherapy has been designed even detect and relieve all the difficulties that are within the patient. There is no one diagnosis for a mood disorder patient which can successfully solve the problem to the root, and that is what makes psychotherapy effective in dealing with multiple problems. The main function of psychotherapy is to ensure that there is an improvement in the functioning of patients and that the disorder has been relieved not partly but fully. In a research that was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic approaches in the treatment of mood disorders, various questions were asked to people who had recovered from a mood disorder treatment and others who were selected outside this cycle. Questions were asked concerning how well the therapy helped with the problem that had led the patient to the therapy. In addition, satisfaction in terms of how well the service and the therapist assisted in the treatment of the disorder and this was ranged on a scale of 1 to 100. The last section involved how well the respondents improved in their emotional state as compared to the start of the survey. The findings of the research indicate that psychotherapy is among best ways of dealing with patients who have a mood disorder. The response indicates that treatment by mental health professional as most people who responded said that they got well. At the beginning of the exercise about 87% of people who attended a psychotherapeutic session reported that they were feeling better at the end of the exercise. In addition, it was also found out that long term therapeutic sessions produced improvement that was better as compared to shorter ones. Psychotherapy alone and a psychotherapy that was accompanied with medication did not show any difference indicating that psychotherapy was much better as compared to medication in terms of procedures. As compared to the works of other professionals such as counselors as the results indicated that psychotherapists were much better in delivering their services to the clients than other professionals. Factors that make psychotherapy effective Treatment duration In all treatment durations that were sampled in a period of not less than two month to a period of more than two years, a naturalistic observation of the period that was used in psychotherapeutic treatment of the patient was a continuous until the patient showed some signs of improvement. The time that is used is better to ensure that the patient fully recovers from the mood disorder although some patients gave up on their way because of long durations. Unlike some other forms of treatment that disregard the progress of the patient, how the patient fairs on is the central determinant of the period that the therapy takes. The aim of psychotherapy is to lead the patient into a healthy psychological realization of self and hence time is not limiting during its execution. Self correction Psychotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of mood disorders are effective because they have the capacity for self correction. They are easy to understand how they work without any manual and incase of falters in one technique, there is a self correction mechanism. It contrasts other forms of treatment because they are manual and incase of a failure in modality, self correction is not possible. Multiplicity in problem Mood disorders are a combination of more than one problem and treatment for this requires that all these disorders be treated. For psychotherapy to occur, the symptoms that are displayed by the patient must meet the DSM –IV criteria for any psychological disorder. Psychotherapy is effective in dealing with multiple problems that are displayed by those with mood disorders as compared the various other forms of treatment. It also changes the general productivity of the patient, his insight and interpersonal relationships. The patient also improves in terms of presenting his problem, especially in the social domain, and enjoyment of life is evident after psychotherapy has been carried out and hence it is since effective because it goes beyond the elimination of the actual problem. According to researchers, a careful analysis of various psychotherapeutic treatments to mood disorders, it has been found out that it is more effective than if the patient never received any form of treatment. Most of mood disorder patients who go for psychotherapy begin to show signs of improvement at the end of the 6th session. In a period of about six month, almost 75% of these patients are significantly better and can be allowed to live freely while they are being closely monitored by the psychotherapist. In a research by consumer report that involved about 7,000 people who had suffered mood disorder before, a vast majority of them reported that they were highly satisfied by with their psychotherapy and noted that; their lives had improved because their situation had become more manageable. It was found out that people who had received psychotherapy had improved just the way those who received psychotherapy and medication had done. Three quarters of those who participated in the survey had gone to a professional psychotherapist rather than a family doctor of a clergy. The situation of those who continued to attend more sessions with their professional became even much better with time and all those who began the therapy did better as time went on. Mindfulness training for persons with mood disorders which is part of psychotherapy has also been found to reduce the vulnerability of those who are suffering from mood disorders to emotional challenges and also increases tolerance to emotions that are negative. In evaluating therapy effectiveness in this case, it is indicated that major improvements that are noted in those who have mood disorders improve with time and the patient is able to cope up very well with the situation (Laskhmi, 2011). The clinical outcome for routine evaluation is a system that was designed in the UK in the perspective of psychotherapy and is mostly used to assess the outcome of the psychotherapy. However, the model found out that psychotherapeutic approaches become more efficient when treating a patient who is admitted rather than who turns up on a daily basis. There are a number of factors that make psychotherapy to work and range from the kind of therapist to the kind of patient that he is dealing with. For psychotherapy to succeed, the therapist must have a complex composition of interpersonal skills that will assist him deal with the patient in an easy manner. He or she must create an alliance with the client that is aimed at building trust and belief on the side of the client. The therapist also needs to be influential and persuasive in convincing the client with mood disorder that the best way to handle his problem is what he is being offered. He must be able to monitor the client’s progress from time to time as he offers hope and optimism in extreme cases of mood disorder. In addition, the therapist must be aware of the characteristic context of the client that he is dealing with. Lastly he must be able to apply the best research evidence and improve his career as time goes by so as to become effective in the field. Psychotherapy for people with mood disorders can work in situations whether the client is more enduring. The process is cost effective and cases of relapse are rare with those involving anxiety and depression being most common and can be handled. The American psychological association recommends that psychotherapy is better for treatment of mood disorders as compared to medication because of the monitoring tools it has in assisting a completed change of behavior over a given time. However, there are some instances where psychotherapy is not effective in treatment of mood disorder. There come some situations where the client may find that the treatment did not result into what was actually expected. The main problem in this case is that the client might end not trusting the process again but what needs to be done by the psychotherapist is a self correcting measure that does apply another mode of therapy (Mountain, 2003). Some people who also visit the psychotherapist have an attitude that they do not want relieve the disorder off them but they have been directed to do so. In such cases chances of the process being ineffective and the psychotherapist needs to work on a plan that will ensure a change of attitude in the client before 5the therapeutic process begins. In conclusion, it can be noted that psychotherapy is a process that is used by most psychologists, psychiatrists and other social workers in treating people who have mild and severe mental disorders. The process involves various techniques that are aimed at correcting the behavior that is portrayed by the patient. In the treatment of mood disorders, psychotherapy has been found to be effective as compared to other forms of treatment like medication. Research carried out indicates that people who have had instances of mood disorder in their lives and attended psychotherapy had their lives changing after some time. There are several factors that determine whether the process is effective or not including time that is spent in the process and the attitude that the client comes to the professional with. Results that come out of the session are easy to maintain and cases of relapse are very rare. References Schofield, W. (1986). Psychotherapy: the purchase of friendship. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. Smith, E. J. (2010). Psychotherapy: An integrative approach. Wisconsin: Sage Publications Sharf, R. S. (2012). Theories of psychotherapy and counseling: concepts and cases (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Psychotherapy Healthy Minds. Healthy Lives. (2011). New York: Prentice-Hall. Ghaemi, S. N. (2008). Mood disorders: a practical guide (2. ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Power, M., (2006), Mood Disorders: A hand book of science and practice, London: Wiley Hagop, S., (1984), Mood Disorders: Towards a new Psychobiology. New York: Plenum Press. Levin, J. (2009). Depression and mood disorders. New York: Rosen Pub. Peacock, J. (2008). Bipolar disorder. Minnetonka, MN: Life Matters. Mountain, J. (2003). Bipolar disorder: insights for recovery. Denver, Colo.: Chapter One Press. Candida, F.& Kraynak, J. (2005). Bipolar disorder for dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Laskhmi, N. (2011), Bipolar Disorder: A clinical and Neurological foundation, Washington: Wiley Read More