Introduction to 21st Century Psychotherapies

Introduction to 21st Century Psychotherapies

After reading the entire chapter, three things that enthralled me were the history of psychotherapies, how cultural factors impact psychotherapy and Conflicting Standpoints. The factors that impacts psychotherapy are demographics, language & metaphor. What is fascinating to me is the importance that these three factors have when it comes to psychotherapy (Corsini, & Wedding, 2010).

Historical Foundations

“Introduction to 21st Century Psychotherapies” is said to be based on effective psychotherapy techniques that is said to entail treatment procedures in relation to the emotional distress that an individual is going through along with the cognitive and behavioral problems that people suffer from and the help they require for it.

History has it that humans have always looked for remedies that can treat for any kind of mental disorder. At an initial level when science did not evolve much, people were bound to resort to unscientific methods such as ceremonial healing and meditation to acquire peace. The common perception was that all mental illnesses come from divinity which many schools of thought at that time detested (Corsini, & Wedding, 2010).

Later it was analyzed that mind is divided into different states such as the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. Later there were further developments which aided in understanding the psychology better emphasizing that illnesses cannot be treated by placating gods but via proper psychotherapies(Hergenhahn, 2008).

Cultural factors

Language & Metaphor

Language along with myths, metaphors shape the structure of our minds. Metaphors that are popular have the tendency to infiltrate all aspects of cognition when it comes to the human brain. When it has the ability to permeate human mind then it also has the ability to ultimately shape the mind of the entire community and eventually the collective personality. Professionals should understand the fact that before a patient is treated that it is important to understand that such elements have an impact on the patient in terms of the way they tend to perceive and the way they tend to operate. The professionals should first analyze the patient culturally and then initiate their treatment in order to ensure that there is utmost cooperation amidst the patient and the counselor (Eleftheriadou, 2010).

The chapter further highlights the fact that there have been many professionals who have made a mistake in relation to counseling. Many counselors mainly highlight that they did not use the metaphors correctly specifically when ...