Counseling Interventions and their Impact
There are three common theories used by counseling psychologists to help people deal with depression. In an era where mental illnesses have increased due to various factors in the modern world, counseling psychologists advocate for the use of psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and interpersonal therapy (IPT) as key strategies to deal with depression (Xiao et al., 2017). Psychodynamic therapy has been a central focus in the sessions that psychologists hold with their clients. This is a form of therapy that encourages people to think about their wide range of emotions including those that one may not be aware of. The psychologist then demonstrates how these emotions influence the client’s activities and develop an action plan. In conjunction with psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavior therapy is an important intervention used to deal with depression cases.
In Catherine’s case, CBT can be used as an intervention that lets her think about the relationship between her thoughts, actions, and behaviors. CBT is instrumental in identifying how behaviors influence a persons’ thoughts and productivity. It, later on, helps to identify ways of changing the behavior to achieve the desired goals. From CBT, Catherine can identify dysfunctional thought patterns and develop a strategy for changing the thought patterns in her life. On the other hand, interpersonal therapy focuses on relationships and how they lead to depression. IPT addresses key relationships such as Catherine’s relationship with her son and mother. These have a huge influence on a person’s thoughts patterns. With a lot of focus on mending these relationships by identifying alternative approaches and feelings, Catherine will identify strategies of assessing whether these relationships are harmful or beneficial to her in the quest to deal with depression (Fleming et al., 2018). Catherine can also identify ways of changing these relationships if need be to ensure that they are not factors for her depression. IPT focuses on learning something new rather than analyzing how they influence the client’s behaviors (DeNoon, 2010). It is through learning alternatives like the relationships that IPT provides an avenue to tackle depression.