Psychotherapists talk to patients one on one.
Mental health professionals often specialize in certain types of therapeutic services, from personal counseling to behavior modification and supervised drug therapy. A psychotherapist has a psychological and psychiatric background, but tends to focus on the counseling and behavior modification aspects when it comes to treating clients. A psychotherapist often acts as a guide and mentor when the client is dealing with stressful or self-limiting personal problems.
A psychotherapist can help a patient deal with grief.
One of the main tools that a psychotherapist would use is psychotherapy. During a session, a psychotherapist encourages their client to express any concerns, fears, traumatic memories, or other thoughts without fear of public exposure or judgment. The psychotherapist may allow the client to talk during the session as a cathartic exercise, or may ask specific questions to help the client explore a specific topic. The purpose of a “talking cure” is not for the psychotherapist to force a solution on the client, but to provide a safe environment in which the client can examine her problems with the help of an objective counselor.
Psychotherapists can help resolve anger issues and prevent future violence.
In addition to individual talk therapy, a psychotherapist can act as a guide for group therapy sessions. Each member of a group session is free to express their thoughts and react to other members, but a trained psychotherapist will try to keep the conversation focused on the topic at hand and ensure that individual members are treated fairly.
Behavior modification is another mental health service that is usually provided by a psychotherapist. Helping clients deal with significant issues such as grief, anger management, and addictive behaviors requires a mental health professional familiar with medication therapy and counseling approaches. While a psychotherapist generally prefers in-person counseling and talk sessions to medication regimens, he or she is familiar enough with medical psychiatry to make recommendations or referrals to clients who need additional help.
Many psychotherapists specialize in helping the elderly.
A psychotherapist may work in a private practice and see clients only through consultation, or they may work in a clinical setting and remain on call for emergency consultations and interventions. Many psychotherapists specialize in certain age groups, such as adolescents or the elderly. Others specialize in services such as marriage counseling, sexual disorders, and addictive behaviors.