Personal counseling, behavior modification, and supervised drug therapy are just a few of the therapeutic services that mental health professionals specialize in. A psychotherapist has both psychological and psychiatric training, but when it comes to treating clients, they tend to focus on counseling and behavior modification. When a client is dealing with stressful or self-limiting personal issues, a psychotherapist usually acts as a guide and mentor.
Talk therapy is one of the most common tools used psychotherapists. A psychotherapist encourages his or her client to express any worries, fears, traumatic memories, or other thoughts without fear of public exposure or judgment during a session. As a cathartic exercise, the psychotherapist may let the client talk for the duration of the session, or he may ask specific questions to help the client explore a specific issue. The goal of a “talking cure” is to provide a safe environment in which the client can examine his or her issues with the help of an objective counselor, rather than for the psychotherapist to force a solution on the client.
In addition to one-on-one talk therapy, a psychotherapist can lead group therapy sessions. A trained psychotherapist will try to keep the conversation focused on the issue at hand and ensure that individual members are treated fairly. Each member of a group session is free to express his or her thoughts and react to other members, but a trained psychotherapist will try to keep the conversation focused on the issue at hand and ensure that individual members are treated fairly.
Another mental health service that a psychotherapist typically provides is behavior modification. A mental health professional who is familiar with both counseling and drug therapy approaches is needed to help clients deal with major issues like bereavement, anger management, and addictive behaviors. While a psychotherapist prefers personal counseling and talk sessions to drug regimens, he or she is knowledgeable enough about medical psychiatry to make recommendations or referrals for clients who require additional assistance.
A psychotherapist can work in a private practice and only see clients appointment, or he can work in a clinical setting and be available for consultations and emergency interventions at all times. Many psychotherapists focus on specific age groups, such as teenagers or the elderly. Others focus on marital counseling, sexual disorders, and addictive behaviors, among other things.