As a consumer of mental health services, which type of therapy would you prefer if you did not like to talk about your problems? If you were suffering from a phobia? If you had recurring nightmares since childhood? If you wanted to improve your marriage?

      As a consumer of mental health services, I would prefer psychodynamic psychotherapy if I did not like to talk about my problems. Psychodynamic psychotherapy will build a relationship between my therapist and me in order for me to overcome not wanting to talk about my problems. If I were suffering from a phobia I would prefer cognitive–behavioral therapy. Cognitive–behavioral therapies are used in exploring and altering underlying personality patterns or unconscious processes (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Cognitive–behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment and the treatments help patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors, such as phobias (Cherry, 2012).

     If I had recurring nightmares since childhood, I would prefer psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapy would allow me to have regular meetings with a therapist in order to discuss the recurring nightmares and to discuss any emotional problems that could cause the nightmares. If I wanted to improve my marriage I would prefer marital or couples therapy. Through marital or couples therapy my wife and I can be seen together or separately. This type of therapy would give us a better understanding of being part of a marriage and what steps could be taken to improve ourselves, our interactions, and our marriage.

Reference

Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.    

Cherry, K. (2012). About.com: Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/cbt.htm