The 6 Stages Of Psychological Therapy, And Their Objectives
Psychotherapy is a process that, due to the need to adapt to the personal characteristics of each patient and the state in which they are throughout the intervention, has different parts organized sequentially, each one with its own logic. and its rhythms.
If you are interested in knowing what they are the phases of psychotherapy as well as the goals towards which each of them focuses, read on.
Summary of the stages of psychological therapy and its objectives
Here we will make a brief summary of the phases of psychological therapy, making clear the objectives of each of these stages and the characteristics of the service offered to the patient.
Of course, we must keep in mind that there are several types of therapies and each of them presents certain variations and particular characteristics; Here we will take as a reference model the sessions oriented towards a patient who attends the psychologist individually, either by going to the latter’s office or through online sessions by video call.
1. Case evaluation
The first phase is always the evaluation stage. Most of this takes the form of an interview in which the patient explains what is happening to him (or what he thinks is happening to him), The psychologist asks questions and establishes the foundations of the therapeutic relationship, and if necessary, some psychological tests are applied , such as personality tests, cognitive evaluation tests, etc. Neurological tests may also be advised if there are indications of medical problems.
Thus, the main goal of this phase is to gather sufficient information with which to begin to outline the root of the person’s problem, and to know their personal and contextual characteristics (that is, their way of life and the environments to which they usually go). expose). All this will be essential to continue working.
2. Hypothesis generation
In the second phase of the therapy process, possible causes of what is happening to the patient are ruled out (with caution, and taking into account that no conclusion is definitive yet) and possible explanations are established about the problem to be treated and what can be done. do.
Thus, From the information initially collected, indications emerge about the possible solutions to be adopted. according to the professional’s criteria and the indications of the diagnostic manuals, if it is the case that there is a potential psychological disorder. Finally, one of the hypotheses is chosen and work begins from it.
3. Return of information
At this phase of the therapy, the psychologist explains what conclusions he has reached so far, and takes into account the reaction and additional information that the patient provides in response to this. The purpose is avoid possible errors due to missing information refer the case to another professional if necessary (this occurs when the problem falls outside one’s own training or experience as a therapist) as well as take into account the patient’s attitude about the selected hypothesis and its implications.
Once that is done, An action plan is explained to the person and an agreement is sought about what the objective of the therapeutic intervention should be. (since to achieve this requires the commitment and involvement of the patient).
This is the fundamental phase of the therapeutic process, since it is a psychological “training” program in which the person attends the sessions periodically and achieves sub-objectives between session and session, always based on what learned in their meetings with the professional and following their instructions.
That is, part of it occurs in front of the psychotherapist, and the rest takes place in the private (or professional, if applicable) life of the patient. Every time we choose to achieve more ambitious objectives, following an ascending difficulty curve and adapted to the person’s degree of progress.
The objective is for the person to internalize resources for managing emotions, thoughts and behavioral patterns when interacting with others and with what surrounds them in general.
On the other hand, if at any time there is a significant change in the information that the patient expresses or reveals about himself and this calls into question the suitability of the form of intervention being followed, the psychologist returns to the formulation phase. of the hypothesis.
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5. Tracking
The psychologist is always doing monitoring progress, difficulties, emotional state of the patient and possible complaints or doubts. However, towards the end of psychotherapy, sometimes the sessions are spaced out more and we see the way in which the person functions autonomously, without so much professional supervision.
6. Closure
The goal in this phase of psychotherapy is make the patient adapt to a way of life in which he no longer needs to attend sessions periodically with the psychologist, checking that this does not represent a problem for him and that he can assimilate it normally, keeping the learning and behavioral patterns acquired during the therapy in force.
If you are interested in having professional psychological assistance, contact us.
In Advance Psychologists You will find a team of professionals specialized in all areas of emotional well-being and mental health: psychotherapy, couples therapy, neuropsychology, psychiatry, speech therapy and coaching. We serve people of all ages, and the sessions can be both in person at our facilities located in Madrid, or online via video call.
