The 6 stages of psychological therapy, and its objectives

Psychotherapy is a process that, due to the need to adapt to the personal characteristics of each patient and the state in which This is found throughout the intervention, it has different parts organized sequentially, each one with its logic and its rhythms.

If you are interested in knowing what they are the phases of psychotherapy, as well as the goals towards which each of them is focused, read on.

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Summary of the stages of psychological therapy and its objectives

Here we will make a brief summary about the phases of psychological therapy, making clear the objectives of each of these stages and the characteristics of the service offered to the patient.

Of course, it must be taken into account that there are several types of therapies and each one of them presents certain variations and particular characteristics; here we will take as a reference model the sessions oriented towards a patient who attends the psychologist of individually, either by going to the latter's office or through online sessions by video call.

1. Case evaluation

The first phase is always the evaluation stage. Most of this takes the form of an interview in which the patient explains what is happening to him (or what he thinks is happening to him), the psychologist asks questions and establishes the foundations of the therapeutic relationship, and if necessary, some psychological tests are applied, such as personality tests, cognitive evaluation tests, etc. It may also be the case that neurological tests are advised if there are indications of medical problems.

Thus, the main goal of this phase is to gather enough information with which to begin to outline the root of the problem of the person, and to know their personal and contextual characteristics (that is, their way of life and the environments in which they are usually expose). All this will be essential to continue working.

2. Hypothesis generation

In the second phase of the therapy process, possible causes of what is happening to the patient are ruled out (with caution, and taking into account note that no conclusion is yet final) and possible explanations are established about the problem to be treated and what can be do.

Thus, From the information initially collected, indications emerge about the possible solutions to be adopted. according to the criteria of the professional and the indications of the diagnostic manuals, if there is a potential psychological disorder. Finally, one of the hypotheses is chosen and work begins from it.

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3. Return of information

At this stage of therapy, the psychologist explains what conclusions he has reached up to now, and takes into account the reaction and additional information that the patient brings to the this. The purpose is avoid potential errors due to missing information, refer the case to another professional if necessary (occurs when the problem is beyond their own training or experience as a therapist) as well as taking into account the patient's attitude about the selected hypothesis and its implications.

Once that's done, an action plan is explained to the person and an agreement is sought about what should be the objective of the therapeutic intervention (given that to achieve this, the commitment and involvement of the patient is needed).

4. Therapeutic intervention (treatment)

This is the fundamental phase of the therapeutic process, since it is a psychological "training" program in which the person attends the periodically and is reaching sub-objectives between sessions, always based on what was learned in their meetings with the professional and following his instructions.

That is to say, that a part occurs in front of the psychotherapist, and the rest takes place in the private life (or professional, if applicable) of the patient. Each time you choose to achieve more ambitious goals, following an ascending difficulty curve and adapted to the degree of progress of the person.

The objective is for the person to internalize resources for managing emotions, thoughts and their behavior patterns when interacting with others and with their surroundings in general.

On the other hand, if at any time there is a significant change in the information that the patient expresses or reveals about himself and this doubts the suitability of the form of intervention being followed, the psychologist returns to the formulation phase of the hypothesis.

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5. Follow-up

The psychologist is always doing a follow-up of the progress, difficulties, emotional state of the patient and possible complaints or doubts. However, towards the end of psychotherapy, sometimes the sessions are spaced out more and the way in which the person performs autonomously is seen, without so much professional supervision.

6. Closing

The goal in this phase of psychotherapy is make the patient adapt to a way of life in which she no longer needs to attend sessions regularly with the psychologist, checking that this is not a problem for him and that he can assimilate it with normality, keeping current the learning and behavior patterns acquired during the therapy.

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In Advance Psychologists you will find a team of professionals specialized in all areas of emotional well-being and mental health: psychotherapy, couple therapy, neuropsychology, psychiatry, speech therapy and coaching. We serve people of all ages, and the sessions can be both in person at our facilities located in Madrid, and online via video call.

Bibliographic references:

• Ching, J.; Londono-McConnell, A.; Molitor, N.; Ritz, M. (s. F.). Understanding psychotherapy. USA. American Psychological Association.
• de Rivera, J. (1992). The Stages of Psychotherapy. The European Journal of Psychiatry, 6(1): pp. 51 - 58.
• McNamee, S. & Gergen, K.J. (nineteen ninety six). Therapy as social construction. Barcelona: Paidos.
• Strupp, H.; Binder, J. (1984). Psychotherapy in a New Key. New York: Basic Books.
• Wampold, B.E.; Fluckiger, C.; Del Re, A.C.; Yulish, N.E.; Frost, N.D.; Pace, B.T.; et al. (2017). In pursuit of truth: A critical examination of meta-analyses of cognitive behavior therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 27(1): p. 14 - 32.