Transactional analysis, commonly referred to as TA, is based on these primary concepts:

1. People have three parts (or ego-states) to their personalities.
2. These ego-states converse with each other in transactions.

Transactional analysis is a theory that promotes personal growth, development, and change. To begin this explanation, part of transactional analysis is a theory of personality, which is based on the study of the ego-states. It helps people gain a better understanding of why they behave the way they do and helps them better express themselves.

Transactional analysis is also a theory of communication, which makes it a system for in-depth analysis. Because of the versatility of transactional analysis, it can be used to diagnose and treat a wide variety of psychological disorders. Its therapy applications can be utilized in individual, group, family, or couples sessions.

The primary purpose of transactional analysis is to help patients realize their own self-worth. TA strives to teach people that they do not have to be slaves to the behaviors and thought processes that they learned as children. One of the core beliefs of TA is that we all learn certain behaviors and ways of thinking as young children. These thought processes continue to shape our behaviors into adulthood, and sometimes this leads to the development of personality traits that people would like to change.

An interesting aspect to traditional TA therapy is that therapists are supposed to commit to attempting to “cure” their patients instead of simply being there to listen to them during sessions. Any changes that a patient would like to see within themselves should be openly addressed at the very beginning of therapy so that both patient and therapist are on the same page regarding treatment goals. This type of action serves to make patients feel more valued as individuals, and instills within them a belief that their therapist has a true interest in helping them achieve their long-term goals.

Patients who are beginning TA therapy can generally expect to undergo at least several sessions with their therapist. The overall length of treatment, however, is something that the patient and therapist determine together, and can vary quite a bit among patients. It is certainly not a quick-fix type of treatment, but it is one that can offer lifelong changes to individuals who devote themselves to the treatment process.

Dr. Albert Ellis, the creator of rational emotive therapy, determined that there is an ABC format that can teach people exactly how their belief systems lead to their emotional reactions:

A. Something happens.
B. You have a certain belief about the event or situation that has occurred.
C. You have some type of emotional reaction to whatever your belief happens to be.

This system seems to explain why people may have different reactions to the same situation. For example, if two different people are accused of stealing something at work, both of those individuals can have completely different reactions. One person might become infuriated at being falsely accused of a crime, while the other person might become anxious and be more concerned about losing his or her job. The reasons for the different reactions are based entirely on each individual’s beliefs about the upsetting event that just happened to them.

When patients begin rational emotive therapy, they generally complete an initial assessment with their therapist that usually involves a question and answer session. Some of the topics covered include medical and psychological history, family background, employment and education history, and the disclosure of any type of drug use or criminal background. All of these things help the therapist chart the best course of action for a patient’s treatment.

Therapists who use rational emotive therapy in the treatment of their patients have complete faith that the sessions will enable those patients to change their pre-programmed ways of thinking so that they will be better able to develop a tolerance for frustration or anger when faced with obstacles in life. Because of the close interaction between therapist and patient during rational emotive therapy, it is extremely important for a patient to choose a therapist with whom he or she feels entirely comfortable. Challenges will undoubtedly be faced during treatment, and the types of honest exchanges that will result are best handled when there is trust between therapist and patient.

From a clinical standpoint, rational emotive therapy has proven to be very effective and efficient at helping patients gain ownership over their emotions. In addition to its uses as an individual type of treatment, it has also proven to be quite effective when used in conjunction with other types of therapeutic practices.

Psychoanalytic therapy, or psychoanalysis, is very intensive and time consuming, so patients should be aware going in that this type of therapy is not a quick fix for their problems.

There are actually a number of techniques that therapists utilize during the process that can help patients open up more about their past and current problems. For example, free association is a process where the patient talks about whatever comes to his or her mind. Dream analysis is another popular technique, and it allows the therapist to find some common ground within the patient’s thoughts and actions that may help to resolve some issues for the individual.

Psychoanalytic therapy consists of three different applications:

1. A method of treatment of emotional or psychological illness.
2. A systemized set of theories relating to human behavior.
3. A method of investigating how the human mind works.

There are also more than 20 different approaches to treatment that all revolve around deciphering the complexities of human development. Attempting to uncover the deeper meaning behind our unconscious thoughts and how they affect our behaviors is a central goal of psychoanalytic therapy.

For patients who feel that talking to an objective professional might help them, psychoanalytic therapy may be an ideal course of treatment. Regardless of whether an individual is experiencing problems at home, work, or school, this type of therapy can help people work through their problems and perhaps even discover the root cause of them.

Psychoanalytic therapy is also widely believed to be very beneficial for children who are experiencing social problems. While many children will not discuss their thoughts or feelings with their parents, particularly if they believe that they will be viewed harshly, they are often more likely to open up to a therapist in a private setting. Parents are encouraged to explore the benefits of psychoanalytic therapy if they have a child who is acting out at school, or who simply becomes uninterested in participating in family or other social activities.

Even with children, however, the length of treatment with psychoanalytic therapy can be extensive. It is always best to approach this type of therapy with the expectation of devoting a healthy amount of time to the process in order to see it through properly.

Essentially, EMDR works by helping patients to completely deal with their memories by fully processing them. Part of the treatment for EMDR involves bilateral stimulation of the brain. Bilateral sound, eye movements, or bilateral tactile stimulation are combined with visualized images and various types of body sensation to produce the most effective results. Many clinicians believe that this type of therapy is quite valid for desensitizing patients to their traumatic memories.

The basic belief behind EMDR is that eye movements help to reduce the acuteness of traumatic memories. During the treatment process, patients are asked to focus on a traumatic event in their lives so that their memories can be reprogrammed to be more positive. The utilization of eye movement is thought to aid in this process.

During treatment through the use of EMDR, patients experience a dual awareness that allows them to alternate between visualizing their traumatic memories and being aware of their present surroundings. The use of eye movement in this type of treatment helps to reduce the negative emotions and sharpness of the memories that are associated with past traumas. It also helps to induce some physiological changes that aid in the treatment process.

Therapists who use EMDR treatment help patients to create a link between a past traumatic episode and the use of rapid directional eye movement. One of the keys to the success of this treatment is for patients to allow themselves to consciously think about a traumatic event while also placing themselves in the present to focus on the therapy at hand. If this treatment is given a fair amount of time, the traumatic memories will eventually become desensitized and may actually be replaced with more positive thoughts.

Some professionals believe that EMDR is quite similar to REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). Rapid eye movements can not only help relieve anxiety, but can also put events into a different perspective, allowing patients to view past traumas from a healthier point of view that is much easier for them to live with.

EMDR therapy is generally broken down into the following phases:

1. Client history and treatment planning
2. Preparation for therapy sessions
3. Assessment
4. Reprocessing, desensitization, and installation
5. Body scan
6. Closure
7. Reevaluation

EMDR was developed 22 years ago, so it is still a relatively new type of treatment. It is important that patients seek assistance only from those therapists who have been specially trained in the use of EMDR.

One of the primary components to motivational interviewing is that therapists realize that patients are going to enter this type of therapy with varying levels of commitment to resolving their issues. Some patients will be better prepared and determined to make changes to their behaviors, while others will not be as quick to make that leap. Because of these vastly different levels of commitment and need, therapists will generally discuss a patient’s background in great detail prior to beginning the actual treatment process.

Though it may sound a bit intimidating, motivational interviewing is not a type of interrogation, nor is it judgmental or confrontational. This particular method of therapy simply attempts to make patients aware of their current behaviors, and helps them learn how those behaviors are negatively impacting their lives. If therapists can get their patients to truly see how their behaviors (or at least some of them) are harmful, it becomes much easier to continue the treatment process successfully.

Motivational interviewing sessions can vary widely in length, largely due to the patient’s particular needs. In some cases, patients may only require four or five therapy sessions in order to accomplish their goals. Others, particularly those who enter therapy with less determination, may find that it takes quite a bit longer to successfully complete their therapy.

Patients who are entering motivational interviewing can expect the following goals to be established by their therapist:

• The establishment of a rapport between therapist and patient.
• The creation of an open exchange of ideas.
• The establishment of a clearly voiced level of commitment by the patient.

It is important to note that motivational interviewing is sometimes mandated, which typically makes patients much more resistant to the treatment process. In these types of situations, it is important to realize that patients will likely require much more time to be successful than those patients who enter treatment with open minds and a willingness or enthusiasm to change their harmful or destructive behaviors.

There are two primary components to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: mindfulness and dialectics. Mindfulness is essentially what it sounds like. It is a method that helps patients to realize and be aware of what is going on around them at any given time, rather than focusing on things that happened in the past, or things that might happen in the future. Mindfulness encompasses a variety of practices that teaches patients to be aware of their current surroundings without labeling them in any way. In other words, it is essential that patients learn not to label the situations that they are currently in as being good or bad, as this type of activity tends to lead to behaviors that are self-harmful. Dialectical thinking processes teach patients that they can handle any situation that they are faced with.

There are essentially three different types of treatment methods that are used in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy:

• Individual Therapy
• Phone Coaching
• Skills Groups

When patients undergo individual therapy, they usually meet once a week with a therapist. Phone coaching requires patients to call their therapists whenever they start to think about hurting themselves. Of course, it is important that patients are actively involved in the treatment process in order for this particular method to work. For phone coaching to be effective and have positive results, patients must call their therapists before they actually hurt themselves. If patients do not feel actively involved with their treatment process, they are much more likely to skip this step of their therapy.

Skills groups may initially sound like basic group therapy, but they are actually quite different. With skills groups, patients attend classes where they learn three very important skills that will help them to deal with their emotional problems for the long-term:

• Distress Tolerance
• Emotion Regulation
• Interpersonal Effectiveness

Distress tolerance skills involve patients in learning how to deal with stress without resorting to self-harmful behaviors. Emotion regulation teaches patients how to take charge of their emotional reactions to common problems. Interpersonal effectiveness teaches patients how to manage their different relationships in ways that are healthy and productive.

DBT is a type of therapy that engages patients in a personal manner that directly involves them with their treatment process. This type of proactive involvement requires patients to keep track of their progress so that they can see how much they have learned, and changed, throughout their therapy.

• Anxiety
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Clinical Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Personality Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Psychotic Disorders
• Substance Abuse

In most cases, CBT is a short-term treatment process. This type of treatment can be utilized in individual or group sessions, which makes it a convenient and versatile option for patients who need treatment for a variety of different problems. Typically, CBT sessions last for no more than 20 visits, and may in some cases be as short as six visits. This is often the most compelling feature of this type of treatment because most people generally consider psychotherapy an ongoing process that can take years.

Though specific treatment methods with CBT can vary greatly, some of the more common approaches include keeping a diary of thoughts and emotions, trying out new ways of behaving in certain situations, and the evaluation of previously held beliefs. The most important goal of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to teach patients how to recognize when and how their behaviors lead them to engage in self-destructive or harmful activities. Once these types of thought processes have been realized, patients are able to honestly reevaluate how their thoughts trigger harmful behaviors. This allows them to be able to begin changing those behaviors into healthier, more productive ones.

During Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, patients are actively involved in their own treatment processes. It is important in this type of therapy that the therapist and the patient interact to create goals that are realistic and attainable. This type of involvement provides patients with an increased sense of ownership throughout the entire process, which makes it much more likely that the treatment will be successful.

Another component of CBT treatment is that patients are generally given homework assignments to complete outside of their regular treatment sessions. Because of the collaborative nature of CBT, patients are usually able to change their harmful behaviors in a relatively short period of time, and can begin to practice new, positive behaviors that will become a permanent part of their everyday lives.