Psychotherapist

Psychotherapist

Write a brief description of the education requirements and career information needed for becoming a psychotherapist. 

The job of a psychotherapist is to talk with patients to help them understand their problems that might arise due to emotional and other circumstances. They study their behavior and thought process by closely analyzing their situations and providing effective remedy for it. Like every other profession, learning psychotherapy needs specialized education to become adept in this field and practice successfully. Now, do you have an interest on this particular subject? Or are you interested in dealing with people and help them in get at ease about their mental illness? Well, then this article is just for you.

The Job of a Psychotherapist

Human Beings are bestowed with an important gift that is brain. Now, due to the complexity of the nature of human brains, it is not possible to assign logic or a particular linear solution behind every action of humankind. Therefore, there arise various emotional and mental disorders, anxiety, depression, stress, post-traumatic disorder, etc. All these factors need to be addressed which has paved the way for studies like psychotherapy. There are various type of psychotherapy which one can study to understand human nature. This includes 

Psychodynamic (psychoanalytic) psychotherapy – This type of therapy will help the patients to reveal their innermost thoughts as the therapists will encourage them to speak about themselves. This, in turn, will help the latter to analyze the patients’ problem more specifically.
Humanistic therapies, cognitive analytical therapy (CAT) – In this type of therapy, the psychotherapists encourages one to think more positively about oneself. This would help the patient to focus on the good and solve the problem effectively.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – This form of psychotherapy examines how beliefs and thoughts can influence the behavior of an individual. It also aims to teach specific skills that would restrain one from thinking and behaving in a negative way.

Family and couple (systemic) therapy – This type of psychotherapy aims to engage other members of the family for solving a particular problem. It helps in solving the problem together.

And cognitive analytical therapy (CAT) – This particular method of psychotherapy uses the techniques of both Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy. This is to examine how behavior influenced by beliefs and thoughts cause problem and improving it through self-analysis and experimentation.

With the variedness of the subject, one can choose the type of psychotherapy in which lies their interest.

Education requirements

Now, a career in psychotherapists is definitely a rewarding one. It also has job satisfaction as it provides the therapists with the opportunity to meet and talk with people concerning their problems. To be a psychotherapists, the educational requirements are different as it varies from state to state. However, it is mandatory to get a graduate or doctorate in clinical psychology, clinical social work or counselling, and any course that has a special emphasis on psychotherapy. The doctoral level education puts stress on psychotherapy research, medicine, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. You should also note that the PhD psychotherapist education requires one to crack a written exam, oral exam, dissertation and supervised clinical work. Moreover, psychiatrist are medical doctors who are adept in both psychiatry and psychotherapy, but they are not physicians.

Information on Certificate and License

The intended psychotherapists should take a test for professional practice in psychology. This exam is designed to examine the candidates’ mettle on psychotherapy techniques, psychological assessments and research methods. Most of the states require a license for the psychotherapists to start their practicing. Apart from that, some states demands the psychotherapists to have a residential experience with an acclaimed and licensed psychotherapists. Moreover, the psychotherapists have to complete continuing education courses to carry on with their practicing and renewal of their license in certain states.

Information on Career

A career on psychotherapy would be a wise choice as the demand in this field has increased more than ever due to the growing amount of mental illness in the modern world. As the lifestyle of humankind has become a fast paced one more than ever, the reports on mental illness, anxiety, stress and depression has also reached its peak. Therefore, it is a dire necessity to put an emphasis on courses like psychotherapy which would essentially reduce the number of reported suicide and unhealthy lifestyle resulting from these illnesses. So, if you have a PhD on psychotherapy, there is a high probability of you getting a job. It is expected to have an increased demand for psychotherapists in schools, colleges, job institution as the world is progressing. The salary of an average psychotherapist may vary from state to state, but you can expect to have a fair increase in the recent years due to its increasing demand.

Duties of a Psychotherapist

The job role of a licensed psychotherapist is to work as a professional counsellors who will deal with families and marriages. They treat patients with the utmost sensitivity and applying the science of psychology to deal with their problems. Some of the psychologists also deal with children and adolescent to improve their mental health regarding many matters. They counsel these children and teenagers to effectively solve their problem help them in advancing their careers or life condition. The sessions conducted by them mainly revolves around examining the patients’ behavior, attitude, mannerism, fantasies, dreams and thoughts.

Human behavior is complex. This is the reason we face multiple emotional crisis and experience situations which is oblivious to us. In order to help us understand ourselves better and provide a comprehensive solution to our life problems, the contribution of a psychotherapist is umpteen. Hence, it would be a great decision if more and more students get interested in this field, and solve the various illness pertaining to human emotions and behavior. It would severely affect the life around us. It would also help in improving the quality of life, and promise the humankind for a better future. It would also help in eliminating negativity and exploring a transcendental lifestyle within the lens of optimism.