Individual Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a deep and systematic process focused on addressing emotional and psychological difficulties. While a person's problems largely depend on the individual and they must ultimately find their own solutions, there are times when one cannot do it alone — and a physician-psychotherapist can help.
The most important tool in a psychotherapist's work is conversation and emotional connection — healing, therapeutic relationships that help uncover the diagnosis and guide the way toward resolving the issue.
Individual psychotherapy helps a person gain self-awareness, understand their true self, explore their emotional world and desires, make conscious choices, and actively shape a life that feels truly worth living.
The goal of individual psychotherapy is to promote healing and bring about positive changes in the patient’s personality and in their interactions with significant others.
Regular visits to a doctor-psychotherapist help reduce fear and anxiety, foster a sense of inner safety and self-confidence by becoming aware of one's needs and making choices, and support the resolution of emotional problems.
Individual psychotherapy is suitable for overcoming any difficulties and can also serve as a continuation after receiving help in a crisis situation or crisis intervention.
The duration of psychotherapy depends on the range of issues to be addressed and the desired outcome. The older the history of the problems and the deeper the changes a person wishes to achieve, the more time will be needed for psychotherapy. Sessions take place once a week, and each session lasts 45 minutes.
The frequency of psychotherapeutic sessions is 1 to 3 times per week, with each session lasting 45 minutes.
If the goal of psychotherapy is solely to relieve acute symptoms, it may be short-term therapy (a few months). This type of therapy is less in-depth and focused on specific symptoms such as phobias, obsessive thoughts, and/or behaviors. During this therapy, the focus is usually on working with a person's thoughts in order to influence and change their emotional experiences.
If the goal is etiopathogenetic treatment of the patient (treatment aimed at the underlying causes and deeper mechanisms of the disorder), it will involve long-term psychoanalytic-psychodynamic psychotherapy. During this type of therapy, work is done with both conscious and unconscious emotions, subconscious conflicts, and personality structure disorders. As a result, the duration of therapy may extend over several years.
Psychoanalytic-psychodynamic psychotherapy helps the patient become aware of, understand, and accept their emotions, recognize subconscious conflicts, and identify unhealthy behavioral patterns. This leads to a reduction or complete disappearance of symptoms, personality maturation, and functioning on a higher level of personal development.
The person begins to feel, think, and behave freely, enjoy life, and solve problems in an adequate and socially acceptable way. Consequently, psychological and somatic symptoms disappear. Functioning on a mere survival level comes to an end.
