10 reasons why psychological therapy may not work.

Possible failures or limitations in psychological intervention.

There are different and varied reasons that lead individuals to seek psychological therapy to resolve a disorder or overcome the discomfort they feel. Many think that it will be simple and they will not have to make an effort during the process, others will resist change, and others may be misdiagnosed.

In some cases, going to psychological therapy may even be counterproductive. may be counterproductive (aggravating the person's presenting problems). Although a significant percentage of patients improve, others fail to achieve their goals and drop out of therapy.

Ineffective psychological therapy: these may be the reasons for this

What reasons lead a person not to comply with treatment? What causes patients to sometimes end the therapeutic relationship with a sense of not having achieved the goals? The following are the main reasons why psychological therapy may not work:

Lack of psychological resources of the patient 2.

Is the intervention accessible to the patient? In other words, is the patient being provided with the necessary tools to enable him/her to improve properly? Can he/she use them? For example, a patient may not a type of psychological therapy that demands a great deal of emotional involvement may not work for a patient because his degree of emotional maturity is below what the therapy requires.

That patient may need prior emotional training because he/she does not have developed EQ skills. On the other hand, the patient may have a low cultural or intellectual capacity that makes treatment difficult.

2. The patient seeks healing without effort or involvement.

Psychological therapy implies a certain commitment on the part of the patient in order to make progress. Psychological disorders are not the same as a headache, i.e., they require an active involvement of the patient. active involvement of the patient.. If the patient does not perform the tasks or apply the strategies that are worked on in the sessions, it will be difficult to improve.

3. The patient does not accept the psychologist's word

The patient may not accept that the psychologist tells him/her certain things. He/she may also not accept that he/she questions his/her beliefs or principles. If a person is defensive, it is difficult to persuade him/her to improve.

4. Lack of motivation on the part of the patient

This point has to do with motivation, since if the patient is not motivated it is difficult for psychological therapy to be effective. On the other hand, motivation can be lost if the treatment demands major lifestyle changes or when treatment has a delayed effect. or when the treatment has a delayed effect. Psychological change is not immediate. It requires, most of the time, changes in deep-rooted approaches or habits, and, that, means time and effort.

5. The patient needs another specialist

The therapy may not be ideal for the patient. Some people work better with cognitive-behavioral therapy and others, for example, with Mindfulness. In other words, not all therapies are the same for everyone.

6. Resistance to change

The resistance to change has to do with a more or less conscious resistance. For example, the patient does not want to lose the treatment he/she receives or the psychological dependence, anticipates negative consequences after the change, does not want the loss of payment or fears uncertainty.

7. The environment favors the continuation of the problem

Certain environments or behaviors impair patient recovery. For example, a person who wants to improve his or her alcohol problems and has friends who encourage him or her to drink is likely to have difficulty getting the most out of psychological therapy.

8. There are other problems that hinder recovery

It may be that there is a misdiagnosis by the therapist because there are deeper problems than the patient is showing. In addition, there could be a situation that indirectly affects the therapy, for example, a bad work or family situation.

9. Patient's erroneous beliefs about psychotherapy

There are many erroneous beliefs that can hinder the process of psychological therapy.. For example, having low expectations of success or too high expectations about therapy, believing that results will come quickly, thinking that going to therapy will negatively affect one's self-image, and so on. People sometimes have a mistaken wrong vision of the psychologist's possibilities of action. The psychologist is not going to make his patient a happy person, the objective is that the patient is the master of his own life, and that he has the knowledge, means and skills necessary to improve his well-being and solve the problems he faces.

In fact, there are myths and clichés about the profession of psychologist that we summarize in the article:

• "The phrases psychologists hate to hear the most".

10. Poor therapist-patient relationship

It is very important to have a good relationship of communication and understanding between the patient and the therapist, which produces a good therapeutic alliance. If there are problems in the interpersonal relationship, the expected benefits may not occur.

The cause of this may be a lack of understanding between the two, the attitude of the therapist or the patient, or simply that there is a lack of feeling between the two and there is no trusting relationship.