Psychotherapy or psychiatric treatments is not about curing the patient of the visible or perceived clinical symptoms of the disease or abnormal functioning of the mind. Rather psychiatric treatment is all about bringing the change in the attitude of the patient towards his understanding of his own abnormality and flaws which inflicted pain to the others.
The goal of psychotherapy or psychiatric treatment is to make the patient feel sorry about his own behavior and making him resolute to mend his or her behavior or practices on the basis of this feeling.
With this basic difference with other medicinal and clinical therapies psychiatry poses as the field of most variable kinds of treatments and therapeutic procedures among which we will mention here some of the major types of psychiatric treatments.
Cognitive and behavioral therapy is an important Psychiatric Treatments
This type of psychiatric treatment is less costly and less involving and widely popular for its being the therapeutic procedure which is easy to follow and easy to adapt.
When most of the other major types of psychiatric treatments mainly emphasizes on the force of the subconscious to bring forth change in the behavior of the patient, cognitive and behavioral therapy centers around the change of behavior pattern of the patients from the surface of his or her personality by assigning him or her to a set of tasks or training without giving any hint toward the internal or subconscious motivations.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is one of the new and major types of psychiatric treatment which uses a process called electromyography or EMG with the help of an electronic device to measure certain direct physical effects associated with the psychiatric condition of the patient.
Such as perspiration, heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension, and skin temperature, etc.
With considerable training and practices with the guidance of cognitive psychotherapist patients can easily manage to come to a relaxed state of mind from a tensed as well as nervous mental condition and to show the patient his regular improvement this technology can play a major role.
This biofeedback mode of cognitive psychotherapy is very expensive and useful for various kinds of nervous and hypersensitive syndromes.
Hypnosis
There are no signs of occult magic or magical outcomes are attached to this term. In psychotherapeutic use, hypnosis is a term known as a major type of psychiatric treatment which is mainly used for bringing forth mental relaxation and rejuvenation.
Systematic desensitization
This is one of the most popular and major types of psychiatric treatments especially for various kinds of phobias. Every case of phobia is normally associated with any particular types of situations or objects or living beings or places.
Now in this type of treatment gradually with the help of the patient a hierarchical list of such tension or phobia arousing places, peoples, situations or things, the root of which are in the subconscious of the patient or in the personal history of the patient.
Now with gradual training, practice and consultation the patient is trained to feel relaxed in contact with the listed of those nervousness arousing things, places, peoples or situations. This is one of the treatment procedure which has a considerable impact on the development of psychoanalysis of various kinds of phobias.
Psychoanalysis
This is one of the few major types of psychiatric treatment which has changed the face of psychiatric treatment made it arrive at its present shape.
Psychoanalysis is the most involving and participating kind of psychotherapy which may require many years to successfully study and treat a patient. First of all, it requires visiting the patient almost every day.
A very common method is associated with psychoanalysis that is a free association, which means the patient is required to reveal everything in his mind without holding back anything from the therapist.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is widely used in Psychiatric Treatments
This psychiatric treatment also relies on the consultation process between psychotherapists and the patient-client as in the case of psychoanalysis. But in complete contrast to the process of psychoanalysis, psychodynamic psychotherapy relies heavily on the consultation or interrogation of the therapist is talking to the patient-client.
Usually, this treatment relies on the dream interpretation or subconscious motivations behind the overall outcomes of psychiatric reality.
Psychiatry is not the kind of treatment like the curative process of modern medicine or surgery, rather it is more hypothetical and creative in nature than the treatment of other kinds and this is the reason why there can be no end to the continuous development of the science of psychotherapy with its usual bumps and ditches.
So, this introduction to the major types of psychiatric treatments is to be understood in that light.
Resource book: Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders