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Psychotherapy
Basic Information

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a set of techniques intended to improve mental health, emotional or behavioral issues in individuals, who are often called "clients". These issues often make it hard for people to manage their lives and achieve their goals. Psychotherapy is aimed at these problems, and solves them via a number of different approaches and techniques; commonly psychotherapy involves a therapist and client(s), who discuss their issues in an effort to discover what they are and how they can manage them. Because sensitive topics are often discussed during psychotherapy, therapists are expected, and usually legally bound, to respect patient privacy and client confidentiality.

General description

Given that psychotherapy is a kind of treatment restricted mostly to verbal exchanges, practitioners do not have to be medically qualified. In most countries, however, psychotherapists must be trained, certified and licensed with a range of different licensing schemes and qualification requirements in place around the world. Psychotherapists may be psychologists, social workers, trained nurses, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, or professionals of other mental health disciplines. Psychiatrists' training focuses on the prescription of medicines, with some training in psychotherapy. Psychologists have special training in mental health assessment and research in addition to psychotherapy. Social workers have special training in mental health assessment and trea...

 

 
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Book Reviews
101 Healing Stories
A Primer for Beginning Psychotherapy
A Therapist's Guide to Understanding Common Medical Problems
Assessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second Edition
Bad Therapy
Before Forgiving
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Boundaries and Boundary Violations in Psychoanalysis
Breaking Apart
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Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders
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Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling
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