Treatment - Psychotherapy Models Overview

When deciding what type of psychotherapeutic model to recommend for a patient, it is beneficial to ask what type of therapy they envision to be most helpful. For example, does the patient believe it would be most helpful to review their past to develop a better understanding of their current emotional state (psychodynamic therapy)? Or do they prefer a more instructional approach in which they are given suggested techniques to help manage their symptoms (behavioral therapy)?

Below is a list of evidence-based therapies:

Psychodynamic psychotherapy – generally more long-term to develop a therapeutic alliance and discuss the relationship between the therapist and the patient as an example or template of the patient’s way of relating to people in their life in general

• Mentalization based therapy (MBT): specifically designed for personality disorders

Behavioral therapy – generally more short-term therapy (12-16 weekly sessions) focuses skills and the link between behaviors, thoughts, and emotions as different potential areas of intervention

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): focus on mood tracking, behavioral activation, exposure, and cognitive reframing
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): focus on mindfulness of emotions, tolerating uncomfortable emotions, connecting to value-based behaviors
• Dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT): specifically designed for borderline personality disorder, focuses on distress management skills, identifying emotions, and interpersonal effectiveness. It combines elements of psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, and mindfulness therapies