Comic relief aside, these scenes often involve an exaggerated character playing the therapist sitting with a pad and pen while the “patient” lies on the couch talking about their childhood, the therapist nodding and taking notes. Many examples of therapy in pop culture aren’t exactly accurate. In fact, many of them are far from what therapy really is.
It is difficult to know what to think of therapy because much of the information available is from sources like movies, TV shows, and commercials. The true stories of therapy are often locked behind closed doors. In our society people don’t talk about their own therapeutic experiences and privacy laws prevent therapists from writing or talking about them in specifics. The ending result is that much of the public has either no idea about therapy or they have the wrong idea.
Therapy varies a lot depending on the therapist, their style, and the types of issues that you are coming in to therapy to work on. Most therapy starts with building a good relationship with your therapist and utilizes that relationship, the therapist’s knowledge, and your own hard work to help you accomplish your goals. For many the question of what psychotherapy is, is less important than the question of whether it works or not.
The American Psychological Association’s website states that reviews of studies of the effectiveness of psychotherapy have shown that 75% of people who enter psychotherapy show some benefit. Their website has lots of helpful information about psychotherapy. A 2008 analysis of studies comparing the effectiveness of therapy and medication for depression found that there were not significant differences. They were nearly equally effective. They also found that at follow up those who were in therapy vs. those who had been on medication were more likely to be doing better (Imel, Malterer, McKay, and Wampold, 2007). This means that in some cases the benefits of therapy could outlast the benefits of medications in the treatment of depression. There are many benefits to psychotherapy including:
- Understanding the behaviors, emotions, and ideas that may be contributing to not feeling well and learning how to change them.
- Learning things like coping skills, problem solving, communication skills, stress management, or distress tolerance
- Gaining a deeper understanding of life events like illness, death, or divorce
- Regaining a sense of control and stability in life
- Finding ways to return to relationships and or pleasurable activities that you may have withdrawn from
- Having a stable and positive relationship with your therapist can help you to learn ways to have those types of relationships outside of therapy
The next time you see a therapist on television you may want to question if the depiction really does justice to all the benefits that psychotherapy can provide. More importantly, the next time you or a loved one is dealing with an issue such as depression, stress, loss, or anxiety you may want to consider psychotherapy. The American Psychological Association has videos about psychotherapy that are a much better source of information than the latest Hollywood film. They include videos like this one that can provide you with more accurate and helpful information:
References:
Imel, Z.E., Malterer, M.B., McKay, K.M., and Wampold, B.E. (2008) A meta-analysis of psychotherapy and medication in unipolar depression and dysthymia. Journal of Affective Disorders, 110 (3), 197-206.
