What is Psychotherapy?

Today, I want to answer the question in the title of this blog. It is one that I get very often, but never seem to have a simple answer to. Mostly because I can be an over-explainer or “yapper” as the kids say these days, but also because I don’t think the question has one simple answer. So, I’ve decided to write a few blog posts explaining some things about psychotherapy. And I’d like to start with what I’m considering as a brief overview on the topic, and will hopefully get into more details on specific topics as the weeks go by.

A good place to start would be defining the term psychotherapy. According to the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario or CRPO, psychotherapy is “primarily a talk-based therapy and is intended to help people improve and maintain their mental health and well-being”. You may find slightly different definitions based on your source but most overlap with this one. And based on this definition, I’d like to make two statements.

1. Contrary to seemingly popular belief, psychotherapy is NOT mind-reading. The amount of times I get asked if I can read minds would be hilarious if it wasn’t one of my greatest pet-peeves. There’s a saying that the client is the expert in their own life. I don’t enter into a session knowing every experience, behaviour, and feeling a client has ever had, nor can I guess. Psychotherapy is a collaborative process and I must work with my client towards their set goals, not my own idea of what they need.

2. Psychotherapy is not limited to individuals who have severe mental health issues. Mental health exists on a continuum, and like physical health, most are striving to have and maintain good health. Everyone has their ups and downs with this. Mental health is not linear and the frequency, intensity, and focus of treatment or maintenance can change dramatically over the course of our lifetime.

So if all that is psychotherapy, who then is a psychotherapist? Psychotherapists are people who perform the act of psychotherapy. Again this is primarily talk-based therapy (though not always) that employs a variety of methods and techniques that have evidence to support their efficacy in practice. In other words, we do things that have typically been shown to help. And if you live in Ontario, psychotherapy is a “controlled act” that can only be performed by a few specific groups of people. You can learn more about that here.

Seeing a psychotherapist can support in improving or maintaining one’s mental health. And similar to a doctor, this doesn’t have to happen frequently. You may only have 1 or 2 sessions to work through a particular concern, or opt for ongoing sessions for regular treatment or maintenance. Also, because there are so many techniques and modes of practice that can be used, not every psychotherapist will be the best fit for someone. And ultimately, psychotherapists are still people, so some personalities will mesh better than others. It can be helpful to “shop around” based on who may cater to your specific needs. Then take advantage of complementary or low-cost consultations to see who you like!

And with that, I conclude my overview of psychotherapy and psychotherapists. If you’d like to know more about therapy modalities or finding a therapist that could be a good fit for you, please let me know with a comment below!