MAIN SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY

The main schools of psychotherapy, according to Ford and Urban (1998) are the psychodynamic models, the cognitive-behavioral models, and the humanistic models. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the main schools of psychotherapy, emphasizing their positive aspects but also discussing their similarities and differences as these relate to their basic concepts, aims, practices and methods.

Basic Concepts, Goals, Methods and Practices

The psychodynamic approach to psychotherapy began with Sigmund Freud. Pervin and John (2000) report that Freud characterized the human being as an energy system whose single goal was that of maximizing pleasure through the gratification of instincts (drives) while simultaneously avoiding pain. Freud's perspective on the structure of the human mind was that it was composed of the id (instincts), ego (conscious mind) and superego (mora

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ips, and so forth have their origin in, and are maintained by both cognitive and behavioral factors. In the theoretical model generally, cognitive factors as contributors to human psychopathology are said to center around irrational thought processes while behavioral factors that help to shape and maintain the disorders are associated with the mechanisms of reinforcement (a process of applying a consequence usually termed "stimulus" that strengthens behavior) and conditioning (a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a reflexive response that was originally evoked by a different stimulus). What cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy attempts to do with respect to psychopathology is uncover the irrational and problematic thinking styles that often accompany the client's psychological distress. Change in the client will proceed from working on the client's thinking but also from utilizing many standard behavioral strategies that help to reinforce new ways of thinking and behaving. The goal of cognitive-behavioral therapists is to challenge, and ultimately change, maladaptive, self-defeating ways of thinking and behaving so as to allow the client to lead a more productive and satisfying life (Ford & Urb
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Approximate Word count = 3271
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

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