Depression Treatment Option: Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy involves talking with a trained professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, clinical nurse or social worker) on a short term (1-20 weeks) or a long-term basis and can take many forms.

Two types of psychotherapy have been found particularly effective for depression:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets negative thoughts and behaviors that tend to worsen depressed mood and teaches ways of thinking and behaving that work better.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) helps a person to deal with changing roles and other stressors by learning how to communicate more effectively with significant others.

Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation involves anything that serves to teach people about mental health issues. This can be an effective way for people to get valuable information so they may then take steps to help themselves. It can take the form of pamphlets, booklets, videos, websites, as well as talking with a health care professional. Often, psychoeducation is a "first step" to dealing with mental health issues.

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The source of this article is http://www.med.umich.edu