Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. Psychotherapy traditionally focuses on serious problems associated with intrapsychic, internal, and personal issues and conflicts. It emphasizes on the past more than the present, on insight more than change, on the detachment of the therapist, and the therapist's role as an expert. It usually involves a long-term relationship (20 to 40 sessions over a period of six months to two years) that focuses on reconstructive change.
Psychotherapy occurs within a structured encounter between a trained therapist and patient(s).
Most forms of psychotherapy use spoken conversation. Some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, artwork, drama, narrative story or music. Psychotherapy may include; psychoanalytical therapies, behavioral therapies, group therapy, family therapy, marital therapy, and cognitive therapies among others.
Therapy is generally employed in response to a variety of specific or non-specific manifestations of clinically diagnosable and/or existential crises.
While some psychotherapeutic interventions are designed to treat the patient employing the medical model, many psychotherapeutic approaches do not adhere to the symptom-based model of "illness/cure". Some practitioners, such as humanistic therapists, see themselves more in a facilitative/helper role. As sensitive and deeply personal topics are often discussed during psychotherapy, therapists are expected, and usually legally bound, to respect client or patient confidentiality. The critical importance of confidentiality is enshrined in the regulatory psychotherapeutic organizations' codes of ethical practice.
