Psychotherapy can help treat many mental disorders including severe stress and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety. Psychotherapy is defined as a tool use to provide unique and individualized mental health to improve patient’s mental health, to help individual better adjust in stressful situations compulsions, thoughts, or emotions (Krause et.al, 2021).
Psychotherapy also known as talk therapy is a form of therapy use often by therapist and mental health clinicians. Psychotherapy is a way of treating unwanted thoughts or feelings with the goal of developing healthier habits and coping skills. We can say that psychotherapy is a form of treatment for mental health disorders intended to help patients train their mind to better cope with issues that cause anxiety or depression (Wheeler, 2018).
Psychotherapy can help people identify and change harmful thinking and behaviors, and it can produce changes in the brain. While drugs are sometimes is the best way to treat illness such as psychiatric illness but that is not always the case especially when it come to certain mental health illness. Recently the American Psychological Association studied the peer- reviewed literature examining the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Research have showed that psychotherapy can be effective, that it helps individual overcome mental health issues. Psychotherapy can teach people coping skills, they can continue to use throughout their lives. For some problem such as anxiety and mild to moderate depression, psychotherapy alone is often the best first treatment option. Research have shown for many patients with mental health problems, psychotherapy works better that drugs, in addition psychotherapy often have a positive-effects even after the treatment in completed. It is also important to remember, that for some disorders, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is often the best treatment (Krause et.al, 2021).
Cultural experiences and factors are crucial in psychology, and skill with navigating cultural issues is becoming ever-more recognized as a core competency for therapists. Cultures always matters, culture is not just something we think about for other ethnicities or other races or people who look or act differently than us, the truth is we all exist in a cultural context. Psychotherapy is a healing tradition among many other traditions that exist around the world and has existed in history. It is very important that mental health nurse practitioner understand that we are bound by an ethical code and legal consideration (FELDMAN, 2022)
Family and group psychotherapy are very successful in managing many and several types of mental illnesses. In group therapy, there is a big challenge in the dissemination of information with other individuals in the group (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, 2011)
When it comes to group and individual therapy the clinician must follow specific guidelines in order not to violent patient’s rights and avoid consequential ethical or legal implications. Informed consent is another legal aspect, each client participating should be giving information on the therapeutic setting such as limits or expected behaviors. Keeping patient’s informations confident is always a big issue when it comes to group therapy. All parties involved in the group are expected to keep confidentiality of what is talk within the group but that it is not something that can be guaranteed, it can be less stress-full and less worry for a patient who are involved in individual therapy to open up to the therapist and have more peace of mind that their information will not be share with other during therapy, often individual therapy allow the patient to becoming forthcoming with disclosing personal and private information with the nurse practitioner or therapist, which can make a big different in the treatment and plan of care. The way group and family therapy can be different from individual therapy is that for instance, a client who have been involved in a sexual battery, assault or abuse case, may not feel at ease providing a detailed description of what happened to them in the presence of other people in the group session due to the fact they might be embarrassed or fear of being judge by others.
The great benefit of group therapy is that one therapist can treat to treat several clients at the same time. In family and group therapy the clinician must be aware of the legal and ethical consequences of breach in the client’s right to confidentiality and must be very careful not to breach those right, such factors may include the client sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion (Krause et.al, 2021).
It is very important that the clinicians know what type of information that the client would want to share with others, that knowledge must be understand before the beginning of the therapy session. The clinician must also explain to the group the importance of maintaining confidentiality of other members of the group right from the start of treatment.
Trust is a very important element in therapy, violation of trust can damage the treatment therapy sessions in a very negation way and ultimately have a negative outcome in the treatment, there should be a constant reminder about confidentiality, perhaps some clients may not be comfortable expressing their feelings due to their ethnic or cultures (Wheeler, 2018
Group counseling environment can create a microcosm of the client’s environments and that is really one of the great strengths of group therapy, in a group clients are seated typically with other people and are required to interact with other people. Groups normalize experiences which means the patient often feel that they are not alone in their situation and the understand that other people really do have depression just like they do and that can give them a sense of hope, believe their issues can be resolve. Group members can see how others view them which is one of other crucial benefit of group therapy, often time in social world outside of group therapy, the patient will not get direct and honest feedback about how they are viewed if their behavior is attracting negative attention, in group therapy it will not be always obvious to a group member that is occurring (Krause et.al, 2021).
Another advantage of group therapy is better care management for both the client and the clinician because group therapy allows the clinician to provide therapy to more than one patient at once, allowing them at greater access to treatment and is also cost effective. To mention the disadvantage of group therapy is that the possible that one client might receive less attention the others and became scapegoats in the group. Some client might potentially feel pressured to conform to the norms of the group and to self-disclose (Gutteling et. al 2012).
In both individual and group therapy, privacy and confidentiality must always be in place unless the clinician has reason to believe that someone in the group is in imminent danger to themselves or others. Family therapy may be considered when a significant other of the patient are be present during the session and legal and ethical consideration must still be in place. The clinician must still be aware of what type of information he or she can share with other family members. In group therapy the client can understand that they are not alone in the situation or whatever they are going through which can be a relieve and very therapeutic for them, in order word they might gain a sense of belongingness. They also can receive support from other group members and allow for broader therapeutic alliance. Gain insight into their own problems and better self- awareness by sharing issues with other who have similar problems (Wheeler, 2018).
The main advantage of individual therapy is that it provides face to face meeting between the client and the clinician which allows for more focused discussion and client might be more open to share sensitive information therefore unable an atmosphere that allow change in thinking and behavior. The client receive full attention from the clinician, can also get direct feedback on their achievement and progress and their treatment in individual therapy can be more comprehensive, individual therapy reduce the possibility of personal conflicts, unable better communication between the client and the clinician and allow flexibility (Krause et.al, 2021).
References
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2011). AAMFT code of ethics.
Retrieved from https://www.aamft.org/resources/lrm_plan/ethics/ethicscode2001.aspLinks to an external site.
Breeskin, J. (2011). Procedures and guidelines for group therapy. The Group Psychologist,21(1). Retrieved from http://www.apadivisions.org/division-49/publications/newsletter/group psychologist/2011/04/group-procedures.aspxLinks to an external site.
FELDMAN, L. B. Integrating individual and family therapy. [s. l.]: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 9781315803678. Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=cat06423a&AN=wal.EBC1747277&site=eds-live&scope=site. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2022.
Krause K, Midgley N, Edbrooke-Childs J, Wolpert M. A comprehensive mapping of outcomes following psychotherapy for adolescent depression: The perspectives of young people, their parents and therapists. European child & adolescent psychiatry. 2021;30(11):1779-1791. doi:10.1007/s00787-020-01648-8
Gutteling, B. M., Montagne, B., Nijs, M., & van den Bosch, L. (2012). Dialectical behavior therapy: is outpatient group psychotherapy an effective alternative to individual psychotherapy? Preliminary conclusions. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 531161-1168. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2012.03.017. How Legal and Ethical Considerations of Group and Family Therapy differ from Individual Therapy.
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2020). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing.