Mental Health Treatments

Learn how mental health counselors treat their patients ...

mental health treatments

Because of ethical and confidentiality considerations, what goes on behind the closed door of a mental counseling session often leaves many wondering what actually takes place during therapy, and what’s often portrayed in movies and the popular media isn’t completely accurate.

For this reason, mental health “treatments” are a mystery to those who haven’t visited with a counselor or therapist. But there isn’t anything mysterious about counseling treatments, nor are they as extreme or extraordinary as what artists create in order to draw us into the theater, or to get us to read a novel.

Mental Health America (formerly called the National Mental Health Association) categorizes most forms of mental health treatments under the umbrella term “psychotherapy.”

Psychotherapy is what most people think of when they think of counseling, the one-on-one setting of a counselor talking with a client. Whatever the problem or difficulty that brings an individual to counseling, the counselor must first get to know the client, learning likes and dislikes, personal history, background, strengths, and skills.

And clients must get to know counselors before they feel comfortable with opening up and discussing personal issues and concerns.

Of course, the reasons drawing an individual to seek the care of a mental health counselor will focus much of the conversation. Counselors are problem-solvers, and they have therapeutic tools to help clients achieve their goals. They will try and pinpoint the main issues for seeking therapy as quickly as possible, becoming a coach that helps individuals concentrate on finding workable, healthy solutions.

To reach the appropriate solutions for mental health issues, mental health counselors will employ one or a combination of the following treatment options:

Cognitive therapy

This type of therapy seeks to find solutions and relieve symptoms by having clients examine thoughts or cognitions leading to dysfunctional behaviors, or impairing an individual’s ability to reach goals.

The counselor has the client identify thoughts or emotions that precede or lead to undesirable outcomes. For example, a counselor helping a client with anger management issues might have the client identify the triggers that cause angry outbursts or rage.

Alternative ways of responding to the triggers is then examined so that when confronted with a difficult situation in the “real world,” the client is able to step back and think through what occurs next. This might involve using visualization techniques to think of soothing or calming images, or the use of deep breathing techniques to calm the body and mind.

The counselor develops a plan with the client for how to handle upsetting situations, and the client returns to counseling, reporting back how effectively the plan worked.

Helping clients stop and recognize the cues or triggers to disruptive behaviors translates into almost all areas of counseling – anger management being only one example. The premise is a type of “cognitive reprogramming” so that time is taken before any dysfunctional thought or behavior causes harm to oneself or another.

Behavior therapy

Behavioral therapies involve teaching clients alternative ways of coping with certain situations or circumstances. Visualization described above for anger management is one example of behavior therapy. Deep breathing or biofeedback is another type of behavior therapy employed during times of stress or otherwise uncomfortable settings that could lead to unproductive or harmful reactions.

Counselors also work with clients on overall lifestyle changes, a type of environmental “re-engineering” to address specific needs. For example, implementing an exercise plan gives clients healthy behavioral alternatives.

Meditation is another tool taught by counselors. And having clients add “enjoyable distractions” to their day is a treatment plan aimed at taking the client’s mind off of unhealthy patterns of thinking and acting. Distractions include enjoyable past times, such as going to movies or sporting events, or simply watching movies at home, or spending more time in leisurely activities with friends and family members.

Environmental re-engineering also involves helping those with mental health disorders or chronic conditions to re-design their daily lives. For example, if a mother with depression (see Depression) or anxiety (see Anxiety) has an especially difficult time preparing dinner because that’s the time of day when children are irritable and demanding, the counselor works with the mother on developing alternative ways to get dinner prepared. This involves creatively re-thinking the day and what needs to get done, disregarding pre-determined timelines and oftentimes rigid ways of thinking.

Couples or Family Therapy

Couples or family-focused counseling seeks to restore harmony and balance in relationships. The relationship might be struggling with a family member’s mental health disorder, substance abuse problem, or chronic illness. A family might be struggling through issues of grief over the death of a family member, or divorce or separation.

Treatments in couple or family therapy sessions depend on the issues trying to get resolved as well as the type of therapy the counselor employs. For example, a counselor might use a brief strategic family therapy approach or a structural family therapy treatment plan. Both of these therapies attempt to address dysfunctional communication patterns between family members, but take different approaches to therapeutic solutions.

Treatment plans in couples or family therapy often involve discussions and problem-solving plans for each member of the partnership or family.

Careers in mental health counseling

If you find meaning in helping others, and desire to guide individuals, couples, and families working through difficulties toward effective solutions, consider a career in mental health counseling. Therapeutic treatment plans have been proven successful for the majority of individuals who receive mental health counseling.

Most states require a master’s degree in mental health counseling to work as a counselor in addition to supervised experience in a clinical setting. Licensing is also required in most states.

Request information from schools offering degree programs in mental health counseling or a related field.

An Alternative Rx for Depression: Exercise

Professionals have countless clinical drug studies at their disposal for depression when prescribing antidepressant drugs since the FDA requires these studies before approving the medication, yet until recently, scientific data supporting a prescription of “exercise” has been hard to uncover.

Researchers have long studied and proven the physical health benefits of exercise, yet finding a direct causal relationship between exercise and the reduction of symptoms for mental health disorders hasn’t kept pace with the physical health studies.

Two psychologists are now studying the impact of exercise on depression, and have observed such overwhelmingly positive results that they’ve compiled a book for mental health professionals on how to prescribe an exercise treatment plan for clients suffering from depression disorders that affect millions of Americans every year.

Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Boston University Psychology Professor Michael Otto have written Exercise for Mood and Anxiety Disorders (Oxford University Press, 2009), a guidebook suggesting precise exercise doses that they hope will aid psychology professionals in their treatment plans.

The book is based on the researchers’ findings after analyzing numerous population-based studies, clinical studies and meta-analytic reviews related to exercise and mental health. This analysis included the authors' own studies on exercise interventions for mental health, and studies on reducing anxiety with exercise.

While billions of dollars are spent each year on depression medications, researchers such as Smits and Otto believe that at least for mild to moderate depression, exercise provides a free alternative. And it’s an alternative without the side effects that often accompany medications.

Other scientists are also working on the connection between mental health and exercise. Neuroscientists and molecular biologists are investigating the link between exercise and brain chemistry, finding a connection between certain neurotransmitters and exercise. These scientists hypothesize that exercise affects serotonin and norepinephrine levels similar to the way that antidepressant drugs regulate these brain chemicals.

The definitive causal link between exercise reducing or eliminating symptoms for mental health disorders such as depression still needs rigorous scientific research findings to support its claim. However, what researchers are discovering as they research this speculative link provides enough evidence for many to use exercise as an important mental health treatment tool.