Types of Therapeutic Communication for Psychiatric Patients

Mental disorders can vary in type and intensity. The more severe conditions can leave a person unable to function in everyday life. Psychiatric patients typically require long-term therapy in order to address whatever issues have brought them to this point. Therapeutic communications encourage patients to work through the unresolved issues in their lives.

Identification

• Individuals who suffer from a mental disorder, or several mental disorders, may be admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment. Typically someone in this condition is unable to carry out the requirements of everyday living. The psychological state may involve extreme paranoia, or visual or auditory delusions, meaning the person's grasp on reality is weak, or nonexistent. Therapy for someone in this condition is different than that used for higher-functioning individuals. To be effective, therapeutic communication must meet the person where he is at.

Function

• The types of mental disorders encountered in psychiatric patients may include anxiety, cognitive malfunction or bipolar conditions. It's not uncommon for a person to be suffering from more than one disorder at time. To provide the right type of therapeutic treatment, clinicians assess the psychological state of the patient through a series of tests that provide information regarding a person's thought processes and behavior. Interviews are conducted with the patient as well as with family members and friends.

Psychodynamic Therapy

• In most cases, long-term therapy is necessary to treat individuals suffering from chronic psychiatric conditions. Psychodynamic therapy helps patients gain insight on how their thinking patterns affect their quality of life. Therapeutic communications focus on how a person's past experiences affects his present behavior. This form of therapy attempts to uncover a person's unconscious thought processes and motivations so unresolved issues can be confronted and new coping skills can be learned.

Music Therapy

• Psychiatric patients who suffer from multiple disorders may be resistant to traditional psychotherapy approaches. Music therapy attempts to motivate resistant patients by having them listen to, or play, music. The use of music is intended to promote communication and feeling expression. The effects of music help patients get in touch with emotional issues that they may otherwise not be able to access. Both patient and clinician decide on the type of music to use during sessions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

• As mental disorders typically stem from certain patterns of thinking, the therapeutic communications used in cognitive behavioral therapy focus on the patient's thinking patterns and behaviors. This approach attempts to uncover automatic thought processes that promote unhealthy emotions and behaviors. Automatic thought processes are made up of pre-formed perceptions and expectations. Individuals are encouraged to make connections between their thinking patterns and their emotional states. Once this is accomplished, the patient can learn healthy coping skills.