And with a dozen sessions, Maggie was able to ponder Kerry's illness and its impact on their family. Mental illness may seem like an unbearable burden, but the reality is most forms are treatable. The two general approaches to treatment are psychotherapy and biological therapy. Frequently they are used together. Psychotherapy Many types of psychotherapy or counseling exist.
Therapists often blend elements from several types of therapies.
Two major types are psychodynamic therapies and cognitive behavioral therapies. These therapies aim to help people understand and change repeated behaviors or interactions with others that have become outdated, ineffective or even harmful. Using concepts related to unconscious mental processes, these therapies evolved from principles developed by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis, the purest form of these therapies, is used much less frequently today than 20 or 30 years ago, but psychoanalytic psychotherapies are widely used. Cognitive and behavioral therapies.