Long term individual psychotherapy
Long term individual psychotherapy is a process focused on getting to know oneself and gaining a deeper understanding of one’s own feelings, thoughts and behaviour in various situations, towards various people and also towards one’s own self. The aim is to undergo deep changes in life, relationships, self-esteem and well-being.
There is no set date for completion of the therapy.
Short term individual psychotherapy
Short term (time limited) individual psychotherapy is proposed for people in a fairly well-defined crisis situation – such as the loss of a loved one, sudden illness, a need to make a major life decision or the onset of psychological symptoms, suffering, or medically unexplained physiological symptoms.
This form of therapy has a set date for completion and the duration is set during the first two meetings with the therapist. The therapy is usually 10-30 sessions long (3-6 months in total with sessions on a weekly basis).
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is a unique method of psychotherapy based on solid scientific foundations. It was created by Habib Davanloo and is currently being developed by his successors in USA and Europe.
This approach derives from findings of psychology, psychotherapy, medicine and neuroscience. It includes various areas of human functioning, which enables the therapist to address the complexity of psychological problems.
One of the features of this kind of therapy is that therapist’s activity is much higher than in standard psychodynamic psychotherapy. The therapist is actively intervening and focusing the conversation with patient on an agreed central problem, experience of feelings and their expression. The aim is to overcome automatic, unproductive and unhealthy patterns of reactions towards oneself and other people and replacing them with new ones that are more healthy and functional.
Another distinguishing feature is the length of sessions, each of whom may last from a standard 50 minutes to 3 hours. They take place once a week or two weeks depending on patient’s presented problem and therapist’s approach. The fee for longer sessions is accordingly higher. Sessions could be videotaped (with guaranteed confidentiality and with the patient’s consent) in order to provide an opportunity for closer monitoring of the therapeutic work. The conditions of videotaping, fees, length of sessions and their frequency are agreed between the patient and the therapist during the first session.
