The Role Of Psychologists
Psychologists are highly trained professionals and highly educated. They have earned at least a master’s degree, and many go on to obtain their doctorate in clinical psychology. In addition, most states require a two-year internship as part of their post-graduate clinical training.
Psychologists, among other roles, assist their patients in learning how to manage stressful events, overcome addictive behavior, and formulate an initial diagnosis.
The diagnosis is usually a formulation of a combination of clinical symptoms and conditions that are described and defined in the Diagnostical Statistical Manual (DSM), which is considered the profession’s leading and primary authority on the full range of mental disorders.
Psychoanalysis
Generally, there are five types of Psychoanalysis and many variations within each of these major categories:
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Behavioral therapy
- Cognitive therapy
- Humanistic therapy
- Integrative or holistic therapy
Psychologists are primarily trained to perform psychoanalysis on patients. This includes determining the patient’s emotional and psychic inner experiences with particular attention given to the emotional wounds the patient may have suffered in early childhood.
These painful childhood wounds are repressed but still fester in the patient’s unconscious mind. The patient, unable to remember the repressed memories, still experiences the pain and anxiety resulting from the repressed memories.
The patient, not knowing the source of their pain and fear, realizes he cannot resolve the feelings alone and seeks the assistance of a skilled psychoanalyst.
Retrieving past childhood memories
It is not unusual for such a patient to have a past childhood wound retriggered by a painful adult event that resembles in some undefinable way the childhood wound.
It is not uncommon for a subsequent retriggering event to throw the patient into a dark and deep depression. Such a patient can present to the psychotherapist with classic symptoms of an acute depressive disorder but cannot identify the source of their depression.
To retrieve the painful memories, the patient must work then with the assistance of the psychologist to struggle through a process of deconstruction, which is the peeling away of layers of repression, fears, and unhealthy personality traits. All of which keep the patient from remembering what the child so desperately wanted to forget
The patient must be courageous and committed to the process
The patient must possess a fierce desire to understand and resolve their internal dilemma, which can take months, or years, and sometimes the patient is unable to reach a satisfactory degree of closure.
For many other patients, psychotherapy has been a liberating experience despite the pain and struggle endured in the process.
Other forms of treatment psychologists perform
In addition to psychoanalysis, some people seek treatment from a psychologist for having suffered a traumatic experience such as rape, death in the family, or suffering from long-term anxiety and depression.
There are many different types of psychologists. Some diagnose and treat mental disorders; others, called educational psychologists, treat children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.).
Psychologists provide treatment for chronic and acute problems, and some work with individuals, families, or other group settings.
Psychologists also study cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes by observing and interpreting how people interact with one another and their environments.
In addition, psychologists can help people learn to cope with stressful events, overcome addictions, and help patients emotionally manage chronic conditions.
For more information, consider connecting with an online therapist
