The 6 stages of psychological therapy, and their objectives.

A summary of the stages of psychotherapy and the objectives of each one of them.

Psychotherapy is a process that, due to the need to adapt to the personal characteristics of each patient and the state in which he/she finds him/herself throughout the intervention, has different parts organized in a sequential manner, each with its own logic and rhythms.

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

Summary of the stages of psychological therapy and its goals.

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

However, 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 individually, either by going to the psychologist's office or through online sessions by video call.

1. Case evaluation

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

Thus, the main goal of this phase is to gather sufficient information to begin to outline the root of the person's problem, and to learn about his or her personal and contextual characteristics (i.e. his or her lifestyle and the environments to which he or she is usually exposed). All this will be essential for further work.

Hypothesis generation

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

In this way, from the information initially gathered, indications emerge about possible solutions to be adopted according to the criteria of the professional and the indications of the diagnostic manuals, if it is the case of a potential psychological disorder. Finally, one of the hypotheses is chosen and work begins on the basis of it.

3. Return of the information

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

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

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 sessions periodically and achieves sub-objectives between sessions, always based on what he/she has learned in meetings with the professional and following his/her indications.

That is to say, part of it takes place in front of the psychotherapist, and the rest takes place in the patient's private (or professional, as the case may be) life. More and more ambitious objectives are being pursued, following an ascending curve of difficulty and adapted to the degree of progress of the patient. and adapted to the degree of progress of the person.

The objective is for the person to internalize resources for managing emotions, thoughts and behavioral patterns when interacting with others and with his or her surroundings in general.

On the other hand, if at some point there is a significant change in the information that the patient expresses or reveals about him/herself and this calls into question the appropriateness of the form of intervention being followed, the psychologist returns to the hypothesis formulation phase.

5. Follow-up

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

6. Closing

The objective in this phase of the psychotherapy is to to make the patient adapt to a way of life in which he/she no longer needs to attend sessions with the psychologist on a regular basis. with the psychologist, verifying that this is not a problem for him/her and that he/she can assimilate it normally, keeping in force the learning and behavioral patterns acquired during the therapy.

Are you looking for psychotherapy services?

If you are interested in professional psychological assistance, please contact us.

At Avance Psychologists you will find a team of professionals specialized in all areas of emotional well-being and mental health: psychotherapy, couples therapy, neuropsychology, psychiatry, speech therapy and coaching. We serve people of all ages, and sessions can be either face-to-face at our facilities located in Madrid, or online via video call.

Bibliographic references:

• Ching, J.; Londoño-McConnell, A.; Molitor, N.; Ritz, M. (s. f.). Entendiendo la psicoterapia. Estados Unidos. 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. (1996). La terapia como construcción social. Barcelona: Paidós.
• Strupp, H.; Binder, J. (1984). Psychotherapy in a New Key. New York: Basic Books.
• Wampold, B.E.; Flückiger, 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): pp. 14 - 32.