Is psychotherapy effective?

Yes, psychotherapy is effective. It doesn’t come as a surprise that a psychotherapist holds this position does it? How do I motivate this though?

Many research studies, around 3000 would you believe (I didn’t count them), show that psychotherapy is effective. Talking therapy is as effective as medication for most mental health problems. In fact it is indicated that it’s best to go to a psychotherapist first before medicating. Very important here is that psychotherapy and medication show excellent results when combined in a treatment plan. I would therefore not support a view where psychotherapy replaces medication across the board. A therapist really has to assess each client’s needs individually. Research does show however that psychotherapy is mostly more effective than medication for long term treatment, leads to fewer relapses and is more cost effective as a short and long term therapy.

A client’s working relationship with a therapist is an important determining factor in the effectiveness of the therapy. I’ll write a post about the nature of this relationship at an opportune time.

Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me with any questions.