Used mainly for depression, it typically involves 12 to 16 sessions. Supportive therapy is a conversational approach intended to maintain or restore an individual's highest level of functioning. Therapists give advice and reassurance, make suggestions, and discuss alternative behaviors and problem-solving techniques. Depending on the nature of the problem, treatment ranges from a single session, or a few sessions over a period of weeks or months, to long-term care over many years. Cognitive therapy, which typically involves 15 to 25 weekly sessions, is aimed at relieving symptoms rather than resolving underlying conflicts.
Therapeutic efforts center on decreasing faulty perceptions and negative attitudes.
This is done by identifying how the patient reacts to life situations and helping the patient test the validity of these reactions. For example, someone who assumes that bad things never happen to good people might feel intensely unworthy in the face of an adverse event. The therapist attempts to modify this tendency by persuading the patient that adverse events occur for many reasons, most of which have nothing to do with the worth of the person. The therapist first analyzes the behaviors that cause stress, limit satisfaction, and affect important areas of the patient's life. Behavioral therapy usually involves fewer than 25 sessions.