What makes a therapy efficient? What is necessary for a therapy to work out? Which are the ingredients a person needs to improve himself and the quality of his life?
Motivation & Commitment
Willingness to work “towards” and “with” the process of treatment is crucial. Psychotherapy is most successful when the person has a strong desire to change. If you don’t want to change, chances are you won’t change or the change will be slow in coming. Change means altering those aspects of your life that aren’t working for you any longer and are contributing to your problems and issues. And it takes a commitment to make sometimes difficult changes in behavior or thinking patterns.
Open Attitude & Flexibility
It is best to keep an open mind while in psychotherapy, and be willing to try out new things that ordinarily you may not do. Psychotherapy is often about challenging one’s existing set of beliefs and often, one’s very self. It is most successful when a person is able and willing to try to do this in a safe and supportive environment.
Relation Psychotherapist – Client: Trust & Confidence
Effective psychotherapy is a two way street. It takes a joint effort by both client and psychotherapist. It’s important that you and your psychotherapist establish strong bonds that allow you to be completely honest about your thoughts and feelings. Often, this requires a subtle “chemistry” between both of you, where you feel comfortable with your psychotherapist’s personality, approach and style. If after the first few sessions you don’t feel this chemistry, look for another psychotherapist with whom you may feel more comfortable.
Therapy Assessment
Once you think you’ve found the right psychopsychotherapist, how can you tell if your therapy is effective?
What you expect to achieve in therapy should be clearly defined starting with your very first sessions. You and your psychopsychotherapist should discuss realistic time frames for reaching your goals and agree on how you will measure your progress.
A Good Psychotherapist
While you are responsible for making changes in your life, an effective psychopsychotherapist can help pinpoint the obstacles in your way. If you have control over these obstacles, a psychotherapist can suggest behavioral changes to help you overcome them. If these obstacles involve factors outside of your control, your psychotherapist can teach you coping strategies that will foster your well being in trying circumstances.
An effective psychopsychotherapist can identify negative thinking patterns that may be feeding feelings of sadness, depression or anxiety. By encouraging you to build upon personal strengths and suggesting skills that can overcome self-inflicted feelings of hopelessness, a psychotherapist can help you develop a more positive attitude.
A good psychotherapist can assist you in making positive changes in your relationships with others, helping you recognize behaviors that may be contributing to a troublesome relationship. Your psychotherapist can teach you effective ways of communicating, clearing the way for honest exchanges with people in your life who may be causing you emotional pain.
You can determine whether your work with your psychotherapist is effective if you begin to get insights about your own thoughts and behaviors that you may have avoided before. Over time, you should be able to recognize patterns in the way you act, trace their sources and identify blocks to your happiness that you may have unintentionally created. The end result is personal growth that empowers you to take control over your life and enjoy positive, life-affirming relationships with others.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of key-words which define a good psychotherapist:
Empathy, Experience, Techniques, Good, updated education, Flexibility, Communication skills, Inner strength, Inspiration, Creativity,…