How does Psychotherapy Help in Personal Growth?

Psychotherapy

One day, a patient went to see a doctor about his problem. The patient had a problem with sleeping because of stress at work and relationship issues. After examining the patient, the doctor suggested to the patient: "The problem is not very much physical. So, why don't you see a psychotherapist?" The patient was upset and immediately replied, "Doctor, I am not a psycho to go to a psychotherapist." The doctor laughed and said, "Psychotherapy is not for psychopaths alone. Anybody who wants to change any aspect of their behavior or emotions which are bothering them can consult a psychotherapist."

What is Psychotherapy?

The word 'psychotherapy' is a combination of two root words: 'psyche' i.e. mind and 'therapy' i.e. treatment.  Whereas the word 'psycho' is a short name for 'psychopath' which means a person who is psychologically diseased or deranged to such an extent that he is a threat to himself and to others. The word 'psychopath' itself is a combination of two root words, 'psyche' i.e. mind and 'pathos' i.e. suffering or disease.

Mental Illness 

By definition, psychotherapy is the treatment of mental or psychological illnesses without using any form of medication. Informally, it is called 'Talk Therapy'. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines psychotherapy as 'treatment of mental illness by discussing somebody's problems with them rather than by giving them drugs.' 

  

In fact, the word 'therapy' means a method of treatment without using medicines. There are many therapies like yoga therapy, physiotherapy, aromatherapy and music therapy that treat physical as well as mental problems without medication and to a reasonable rate of success.  

Types of Psychotherapies

There are hundreds of therapies being practiced in the psychotherapy spectrum today. However, all of them can be categorized into three mainstream therapies as below:

1. Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT): Psycho-dynamic Therapy believes that childhood experiences and their memories stored in the unconscious part of the mind play a major role in the formation of personality and behavior. The negative memories haunt the person throughout his life. So, Psycho-dynamic Therapy attempts to bring about change in a person by bringing the unconscious memories to the conscious awareness of the person and thus cure the negative emotions in the person.
2. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): Cognitive Behavior Therapy believes that a person's thoughts and beliefs play a major role in the feelings and behavior of a person. So, it attempts to bring about change in a person by correcting the thoughts and beliefs of a person and thus change the behavior and feelings of the person.   
3. Humanistic Therapies:  Humanistic therapies believe in the inherent capacity of a person to change his life. These therapies help a person decide what is best for him and then take action to bring about the change. Humanistic Therapies are person-oriented and so the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist plays a major role in curing the patient.

Psychotherapy and Personal Development

Personal Development

Traditionally, psychotherapy was looked upon as a method for treating mental illness or disease. Its focus was on treating a disease rather than personal growth and wellness. It focused on treating common mental illnesses like Depression, Anxiety disorders,  Personality Disorders, Schizophrenia, etc...


Nowadays, psychotherapy has been increasingly looked upon as a tool for personal growth and wellness. The focus has been shifting from illness to wellness. Besides treating mental illness, today's psychotherapy focuses on enhancing emotional well-being and bringing about personal change and growth.

Transactional Analysis as an Integrated Psychotherapy Model

Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy is considered as an integrated psychotherapy model because it includes the principles of all the mainstream therapies mentioned above. 

• TA integrates the fundamental principles of Psycho-dynamic Therapy into it. For example, the central concept of Life Scripts in TA is essentially psycho-dynamic in nature. A 'Life Script' is defined as 'an unconscious life plan made in childhood under parental influence.' 
• TA also integrates the practices and principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy into it. For example, the fundamental TA concepts of 'Transactions' and 'Games' teach us how to understand people and their behavior and thus interact with others effectively. In fact, Eric Berne says that one of the goals of TA is 'social control.' That is the reason he called TA as 'Social Psychiatry' in his book, 'Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy.'
• TA also integrates Humanistic Therapies into it. The very foundational beliefs of TA are based on Humanistic philosophy. TA believes that people are OK and that they have the capacity to think and decide their destiny.

A Case Example in TA Psychotherapy

• Ramu (the name has been changed for confidentiality), a software engineer working in an MNC software company approached me for psychotherapy saying that he was not able to communicate confidently before his superiors and colleagues and that he had this problem throughout his career. He also told me that often he felt lonely and felt that life was boring.
• In the course of therapy (in the next two to three sessions), we delved into the childhood experiences of Ramu and discovered that his parents told him he was not important in comparison to others. As an example, he told me that whenever his cousin's family visited their house, the children of the cousin's family were treated with respect, and they were given preference in everything. He was told that they were more important than himself and his sister because they were educated and rich. These kinds of experiences  made Ramu believe that he was 'less than others.' 
• In the later sessions with Ramu, based on his childhood experiences, I constructed his beliefs - about himself, others and life in general. One such belief about himself was that he was not important in comparison to others and so he should not cause inconvenience to others. As a result, he always put the needs of others before his needs and never asserted himself. He had other beliefs like people always use him for their selfishness and that life was boring and had no fun.

  

  Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy

• Then, I helped Ramu to counter those beliefs by confronting whether they were true: Was he not important and whether his needs were not important for him. After discovering his negative beliefs and writing counter statements to them, Ramu understood why he was behaving the way he did. As a result, his behavior changed quickly. He started asserting himself and asking for his needs and started believing that he was 'not less than anybody'. His communication with his superiors improved quickly and suddenly life seemed to be interesting.   

Approaching Psychotherapy Positively... 

Finally, we need to understand that psychotherapy is not just for treating mental illnesses alone, it is also a great tool for personal growth and emotional well-being. However, in India, there is still a stigma attached to people going for psychotherapy. There is a need to change our perspective that any mental health condition needs to be attended with as much seriousness as we attend any physical health condition because...

      ...MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT

For any kind of counseling and psychotherapy needs, you can contact the author. The author is a Psychotherapist, Personal Development Coach, and Behavioral and Communication Trainer.