Psychotherapy

Article By:

Prochaska, James O. Cancer Prevention Research Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island.

Last reviewed:June 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.555200

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• Psychotherapy, published June 2014:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

Any treatment that applies psychological principles to produce changes that enhance the health and well-being of participants. Psychotherapy is concerned with the treatment of mental disorders by psychological means and techniques (Fig. 1). In general, psychotherapies are typically differentiated on the basis of the theoretical or psychological principles that are applied. Psychotherapies also can be differentiated by the types of patients (clients) that they serve (for example, individual or group therapy, adult or child therapy, or marital or family therapy) or by the length of therapy (for example, time-limited or brief therapy, or long-term or time-unlimited therapy). Often, psychotherapies are viewed as methodologies of crisis intervention (for example, brief hospitalization or community outreach counseling with crisis victims). See also: Affective disorders; Mental disorders; Psychology; Psychosis; Public health

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