Psychotherapy: What is It?

Psychotherapy is a meeting between the therapist and the client, conducted either one-on-one or in a group setting. The center of attention is on the issues the client is experiencing in their daily life, and the type and severity of these issues directly influence how the psychotherapy process will develop and how long it will last.

If we were to capture a snapshot of psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, we would see two individuals engaged in conversation. However, if somehow we could peer into the minds of the therapist and the client, we would encounter a therapist examining the complexities within the client’s mind with a magnifying glass and flashlight, while the client confidently allows this exploration. The client brings their daily life issues to therapy, while the psychotherapist takes on the responsibility of identifying pathways to resolve these issues using various techniques depending on the therapeutic approach they adhere to.

If we were to explain psychotherapy using another analogy, we could use the example of a sewing box filled with colorful threads. Let’s imagine this sewing box as the client’s mind. Sometimes, life mixes up the threads in our sewing box, and we find ourselves unable to untangle them on our own. Family, work, social life, our spiritual world, the meaning of life, and ourselves are just some of the colorful threads in this sewing box. Sometimes, one thread gets tangled with all the others. Sometimes, the thread of a particular relationship knots with the thread of our inner world. And sometimes, for reasons we cannot understand, we feel like our entire sewing box is in complete disarray. Sometimes, we even think all our threads are lost… In such situations, we need to show our sewing box to someone for help.

At this point, just as untangling a knotted thread requires virtues such as effort, patience, and attention, we also need these virtues in solving our problems. The therapist sheds light on our path, sometimes helping us see the knots more clearly with a magnifying glass. Sometimes, they are simply there beside us as we untangle the knots. They signal us not to let go of a knot just as we’re about to untangle it or remind us that we may be adding new knots by pulling the threads from the wrong places. Their task is not to untangle the knots for us. Instead, their task is to be awake and attentive, to be a keen observer so that the client can untangle the knots themselves. As clients, through this process, we begin to understand what colors the threads in our sewing box are, which ones are more prone to tangling, and which threads are very strong.

Such observation requires the establishment of a therapeutic bond, which is a mutually built sense of trust over time. The stronger the therapeutic bond, the greater the trust. Establishing this trust relies on the compatibility between the client and the therapist. Therefore, there is a suitable psychotherapist and therapy approach for everyone, but not everyone may achieve the same effectiveness from the same psychotherapist or approach. To learn more about this, you can read articles on “Which psychotherapy approach is right for you?” and “How to choose a psychotherapist?”

Another characteristic of psychotherapy is its permanence as long as it continues. A detail that makes the therapist reliable in the psychotherapy process is being available for the client in the therapy environment every week at a specific day and time. This commitment alone can be the beginning of problem-solving for many clients. Each week, for a specific period of time, the focus is on the client’s problems. After this dedicated time, the client becomes capable of making changes using the insights gained in therapy in the rest of their life. The following week, a new session is conducted focusing on the emotions and thoughts that arise from these changes, and each session explores different depths of the personality. This journey of self-discovery is not a straightforward and only forward-moving path. Sometimes, it turns into a bumpy and challenging journey filled with beauties and obstacles. Having a guide you can trust to walk this path with you can make this journey much easier and enjoyable. This way, real changes can emerge, and life can be experienced in all its colors. In today’s fast-paced world, psychotherapy is not a luxury but a necessity. Wishing your sewing boxes to be tidy and your embroideries to be dazzling!