Talk-Therapy: an Effective Age Old Approach

Therapy is still relatively new and not as trusted as a form of treatment in our country. It also does not help that there is a lot of misinformation about it in the media, and the poor experiences many people have in therapy put it in a negative light. But, like many other healthcare tools, therapy can benefit our well-being. Over time, researchers and professionals in the field have expanded the tools used in psychotherapy- like art, music, movement/dance, play therapy, and many others. However, one of the most common tools psychologists use is talk therapy.

Different versions of counselling through talking had existed for millennia, even before we had defined psychotherapy or psychology- be it through religious institutions, community leaders, or family elders. However, in its conventional sense, talk therapy gained traction due to Freud.

You might have seen the age-old cartoons and memes of people lying on a reclining sofa while a bespectacled person takes notes. Those cartoons are inspired by Freud’s therapy method- He called it the Free Association, where the therapist would sit out of sight of the person who could freely talk about anything that came to their mind.

He intended not to interfere with the free flow of thoughts and the revelations that happened because of that. He believed that free association could help him understand the unconscious (the thoughts we aren’t aware of) thoughts that people have about themselves, others, and the situation.

Over the years, therapy has morphed into many different forms—the Freudian way, the Humanistic way, the CBT way, and feminist and post-modern perspectives.

Note: I have included links and additional resources for you to explore below.

Table of Contents | Jump Ahead

Understanding what talk therapy is, really!

Common Misconceptions About Therapy

What happens in talk therapy, then...

Links and Useful References

Understanding what talk therapy is.

According to the National Cancer Institute, talk therapy is a means of treating emotional, behavioural, personality and other mental health needs through methods like active listening, discussions, and psychoeducation. This form of therapy is also called psychotherapy.

Generally, talk therapy happens between the person seeking therapy and a trained professional. The therapist engages in conversations aimed at helping the person gain insight about their life, set and meet goals that would help them, and more. Sometimes, couples, families, or groups of people can seek therapy from psychologists to meet similar or collective goals, but the essence of talk therapy stays the same.

Things become tricky when we try to understand the nitty-gritty of psychotherapy because media/ entertainment media tends to forgo facts for entertainment and spread misinformation about what it looks like. We can forgive some creative liberty, but when we want to bring awareness about what talk therapy is, it is also necessary to address what it isn’t.

Common Misconceptions About Therapy

1. Therapists only chit-chat for one hour
   
   This seems to be a prevalent misconception among many that the talking part of therapy is simply gossiping or casual chit between two (or more) people for an hour. It might probably be why many see talk therapy as useless. While it isn’t uncommon for therapists to engage in small talk, it has more to do with making a client feel comfortable, building rapport, and setting a comfortable session pace.
   
   Opening up to a stranger is already daunting, so creating a relaxed environment is important for therapists and clients. A well-trained therapist constantly looks at their client with curiosity, empathy, and open-mindedness—they are looking for patterns, trying to understand their motivations and them as individuals rather than just clients (even when the conversations seem mundane).
   
   
2. Therapists will advise people about what to do
   
   This is also a common misconception that people hold where therapists are all-knowing ‘experts’ who know everything and would advise the correct steps needed to help someone. Now, there may be times when advice might help someone, but a well-trained therapist won’t say- “You need to do this to get this result”, or “Or you should do this/ do this and your issues will be solved”.
   
   Instead, they might gauge the situation the client is facing and their existing support system (if any). They may ask for their options to offer a list of options that they might consider- “In situations like this, some might take these steps…” or “Maybe you could consider one of the things from these options…” and check in with how the client feels/ what they think about the options provided.
   
   
3. Therapists are supposed to “cure” people.
   
   When we think about professionals curing us, we might already see them as someone with more knowledge and control over what we are experiencing and how we can handle it. However, therapy is a collaboration between the professional and the person seeking therapy.
   
   Through that collaboration, clients can get a better understanding of what they go through, why they may make the choices they do, and how they can navigate through the hurdles in their lives; i.e., therapy focuses more on using conversations to empower clients with tools to live their lives—mainly because they might not be able to control every aspect of their lives—and less on curing ailments.
   
   
4. Therapists will play multiple roles like doctor, best friend, and family to help someone.
   
   This is a common trope for therapists in movies, TV shows, books, and other media, where they play the role of a cool friend, sometimes an understanding family, or even prescribe medicines (this happens mostly when people don’t differentiate between therapists and psychiatrists).
   
   Therapists do care about their clients (otherwise, a good therapeutic rapport might not develop), but they can’t be a replacement for friends, family, or other professionals. Talk therapy is a tool used by psychologists.
   
   This means that the hourly conversations between therapist and client serve a purpose- to help the latter reach their personal goals, whether to learn skills, process their feelings about something, or gain other perspectives to their experiences.
   

These are a few things that therapy isn’t. Like every other tool or intervention, when therapy is done properly and with efforts from both sides, it can benefit everyone.

What happens in talk therapy, then...

Counselling and talk therapy focus more on learning to change our thinking styles and explore more complex emotions about our life’s circumstances rather than focusing on only getting outcomes.

For example, when a client goes to therapy to discuss feeling very sad and not wanting to feel that anymore, counselling psychologists/therapists would focus less on making the person not feel sad.

Instead, they would work together to explore the situations that brought about the sadness, their way of thinking contributing to that emotion, their support system, and their coping methods. This way, while the client won’t be able to stop themselves from experiencing a human emotion like sadness, they can have a set of methods to cope with it.

New research based on neuroscience attests to the effectiveness of counselling as a form of treatment. Yet, it is not a magical tool but more so a way to train us to connect with others and ourselves differently. Neuroscientific research on psychotherapy highlights the importance of regular client-therapist interaction and between-session activities to develop new neural pathways in the brain.

A very important distinction between medicine-based treatment and talk therapy treatment is that the latter requires everyone involved to be more proactive and consistently and regularly make efforts to help change the clients’ lives.

Let’s say a couple attends therapy to work through their marital conflicts. The therapists wouldn’t advise them what to do; rather, they would encourage the couple to actively engage in conversations with each other, understand patterns in their communication, change them if needed, and consistently practice those new interpersonal skills outside the therapy set-up.

Hopefully, the increase in interest in applying neuroscience to our general well-being will lead to the development of better talk therapy tools. Therapy is not a one-size-fits-all approach, so each of our journeys might look different. The key is to recognize ourselves and our strengths and work towards our goals consistently—talk therapy is a tool that can be used to achieve just that.

Links and Useful References

• Talking therapy and counselling. Available at: https://www.samh.org.uk/documents/SAMH_Service_Publication_Talking_Therapy-2020.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Talking therapy and counselling. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/2896/talking-therapy-and-counselling-2018.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Chapter 6 Postmodern/poststructuralist ... (no date) POSTMODERN/POSTSTRUCTURALIST THERAPY. Available at: https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2012/PST450/um/Tarragona_2008_Postmodern_Therapies.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Malhotra, S. and Sahoo, S. (2017) Rebuilding the brain with psychotherapy, Indian Journal of Psychiatry. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5806319/ (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms (no date) Comprehensive Cancer Information - NCI. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/talk-therapy (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Noble, C. and Day, E. (2016) Feminist Therapy: Theories and Practices, in Psychotherapy and Counselling: Reflections on practice. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press, pp. 16–27.
  
• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carolyn-Noble/publication/308103648_Feminist_therapy_Theories_and_practices/links/5cac2c59a6fdcca26d08e8b4/Feminist-therapy-Theories-and-practices.pdf
  
• Rossouw, P.J. (2013) (PDF) The neuroscience of talking therapies. implications for therapeutic practice., ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257811205_The_neuroscience_of_talking_therapies_Implications_for_therapeutic_practice (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Sweet, M. and Whitlock, J. (2010) Therapy-myths-and-misconceptions-pm.pdf. Available at: https://www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu/perch/resources/therapy-myths-and-misconceptions-pm.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
  
• Tringer, L. (no date) History-of-Psychotherapy.pdf - institute of mental health (IMH). Available at: https://www.imhlk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/History-of-Psychotherapy.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2024).