February 2023

How can we improve access to mental health services? Creating more equitable access to quality mental health care for underserved communities requires increasing the pipeline of a more diverse workforce. That means intentionally investing in workforce recruitment, training, and education of practitioners from historically underserved communities. Lack of awareness, social stigma, cost, and limited access […]

Can therapy have a negative effect? In fact, therapy can be harmful, with research showing that, on average, approximately 10 per cent of clients actually get worse after starting therapy. Yet belief in the innocuousness of psychotherapy remains persistent and prevalent. The number of recommended sessions varies by condition and treatment type, however, the majority

How effective is therapy? Studies consistently show that behavioral and emotional interventions work just as well or even better than medication to treat various mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)[3]. No, therapy does not help “everyone,” but, there are all the variable to consider before deciding that therapy is for you

What is the success rate of talk therapy? About 75 percent of people who enter psychotherapy show some benefit from it. Psychotherapy has been shown to improve emotions and behaviors and to be linked with positive changes in the brain and body. Like psychoanalysis, long-term psychodynamic therapy has been shown to be particularly beneficial with

What happens during first therapy session? Your first session will probably involve your therapist asking you a lot of questions about you, how you cope, and your symptoms (it’s basically an interview). You may also chat about goals for therapy, expectations, and more. During your first session, your therapist will ask questions to understand what

How is psychotherapy different from therapy? Psychotherapy, in contrast to therapy, is a primary process, taking a more abstract approach by focusing on analyzing emotions, dreams, and instinctual demands or drives. Psychotherapy may incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy or talk therapy depending on the severity of the case. Psychotherapy can be helpful in treating most mental

How is therapy a science? In essence, the science of therapy is the preferential use of empirically supported and evidence-based methods. That is, treatments of choice that have received experimental validation. In order to say that counseling is a science, it needs research based evidence in regard to its effectiveness in treating a client’s problem.

What is the most important determinant of the effectiveness of psychotherapy? Previous research indicates that the therapeutic alliance is a main factor in determining successful outcomes of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy can be helpful for people who are experiencing a mental health problem, but it can also be beneficial for people interested in learning new coping strategies

Which psychotherapy is most effective? Cognitive behavioral therapy is often considered the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that you may not have heard of but is very widely practiced and has been proven time and time again through various studies to be a successful form of

What does research on the effectiveness of psychotherapy indicate? Research that summarizes the effectiveness of psychotherapy indicates that people who seek psychotherapy are about 80% more likely to feel better than people who are not involved in psychotherapy. In summary, the goal of psychotherapy is to facilitate positive change in clients seeking better emotional and