different parts of brainImprovement is an essential part of life. It’s due to improvement in all walks of life that man has come this long way, with improved lifestyle, comforts, transportation, communication, and of course science and technology too.

Psychotherapy is also a science that is particularly of everyone’s concern because this age is primarily the age of mental disorders due to increased competition, stress, worries and fear about survival. Gone are the days when people approached a therapist only when a severe mental imbalance was to be addressed. There is an increased awareness about talk therapy or psychotherapy, and people are using it for bringing changes to themselves and their lives for good.

There is also a major change in the medical approach to mental health disorders and it has evolved to encompass several different methods of treatment. Since more and more people are taking help of talk therapy, therapists too have started gaining increased knowledge about mental problems from smaller to bigger ones. Naturally, approaches to deal with these problems have become more modernised and more efficient – needless to say that these include some new approaches. It’s interesting to see what these modern treatment methods are and how they are useful.

Havening

Havening is a very new talk therapy approach and was first used in 2013. It’s useful for freeing people from past life’s strains that disturb them in their current life. It tries to disconnect the painful memories of the past traumatic events by talking and using a therapeutic touch.

Havening has a strong base of neuro-scientific knowledge of how brain stores and processes memories. It has come to light that different parts of brain store different types of memories.

Regular memories are stored in a part which is accessible to language and you can recall those memories whenever you need them.

However, painful, scary and traumatic memories are stored in a different part that is inaccessible to language. So, they cannot be shifted by general talking therapies. Havening is designed to take out the emotional ‘punch’ out of underlying traumatic memories which cannot be accessed by conventional talking therapies and so, cannot be permanently removed by them.thoughts

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is a comparatively unknown therapy and has been under development since the 80s. It has been proven to outshine the leading therapies of today like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and others.

At its core, ACT is mindfulness and takes many areas into consideration like what is happening to the client, changing client’s association with his thoughts that are causing problems, leading a life with sound and sensible values and taking a committed action.

In the ACT therapy, a combination of questioning, metaphors, storytelling, mindfulness, easy exercises and information about how mind functions is used. It’s way easier and more comfortable for the client than the conventional approach of digging out the past painful memories or fighting against their hardships.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a skill that takes time to learn and can take your full life to master, but can change your life for better.

It’s a skill to see your life more clearly, reduce stress as well as overwhelm, make better decisions, improve relationships and enjoy a peace of mind.

People often learn mindfulness in formal classes that teach mindfulness exercises and meditation to build these skills. But ACT helps people learn mindfulness skills in a different way by using thoughtfully designed metaphors and methods rather than using meditation. The benefits of learning mindfulness are that it makes the learner more robust and resilient in difficult times, more connected to his life and happier about his life.

Mindfulness has traditionally been a method that was taught by a guru to the pupil. But during the last some decades, it has been freed from the monastery tradition and arrived in the secular world.

Now there is plenty of information available about mindfulness, although just ‘knowing’ it differs from ‘really knowing’ it. Rather than just reading about it, learning it from a good teacher can help you learn it better and let you enjoy its results.

Benefits of the Improved Approaches

You Learn Positive Coping Skills

One of the main benefits of the improved approaches is the main focus on flexible treatment plans and constructive coping strategies. Therapists can discern your exact needs through regular sessions and are usually able to help you with problems in your life. However, this needs a very open and trustful relation between the therapist and client which can be established when client speaks openly and honestly to the therapist.

You Improve Communication Skills

Once you open up comfortably with your therapist, you’ll be surprised to see how easy it becomes to communicate with people in your regular life. Whether you are communicating to your loved one or discussing routine issues at work, the skills of communication will be carried over to the other parts of your life and you’ll feel confident during interactions. Plus, in case if you feel confused at some point, you have a strong support network.

Your Pharmaceutical Dependence Reduces

Though certain conditions do need medications, psychotherapy encompasses a wide range of treatments that don’t need a course of medications. In most cases, the therapist uses the above-mentioned and many other similar approaches before trying any medications that are likely to cause serious side effects. In case if a medication is needed, your therapist will closely monitor your health and prevent any health problems or dependency.

Hopefully this information will bring a ray of hope to you that has the power to enlighten the darker corners of your mind and life, and let you live a bright, cheerful life.