🧠 Comprehensive Guide to Psychotherapy Modalities

AEDP is an experiential therapy model that integrates attachment theory, affective neuroscience, and body-focused approaches. It seeks to undo loneliness and help clients process difficult emotional experiences to foster resilience and transformation.

Key Figure: Diana Fosha

Best For: Trauma, attachment issues, depression, anxiety.

ACT (pronounced "act") is a form of mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy. It teaches clients to accept difficult thoughts and feelings (acceptance) rather than fighting them, and to commit to actions that align with their personal values, thereby increasing psychological flexibility.

Key Figures: Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, Kirk Strosahl

Best For: Anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, psychosis.

Founded by Alfred Adler, this is a humanistic and goal-oriented approach. It emphasizes the individual's social context, feelings of inferiority, and the drive for belonging and significance. Therapy focuses on exploring early memories, family dynamics, and reorienting beliefs to foster social interest and a more constructive lifestyle.

Key Figure: Alfred Adler

Best For: Parenting issues, family dynamics, anxiety, depression, personal growth.

Founded by Carl Jung, this approach is a form of depth psychology. It focuses on integrating conscious and unconscious parts of the psyche through the exploration of dreams, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. The ultimate goal is individuation—becoming a whole, integrated self.

Key Figure: Carl Jung

Best For: Personal growth, finding meaning, midlife transitions, spiritual concerns.

Art therapy uses the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals. It is based on the belief that creative expression can be a powerful tool for healing, self-exploration, and communication, especially for thoughts and feelings that are difficult to verbalize.

Key Figures: Margaret Naumburg, Adrian Hill

Best For: Trauma, children, non-verbal individuals, stress, self-exploration.

BA is a structured treatment for depression, often used as a standalone therapy or as part of CBT. It's based on the idea that depression is maintained by a lack of positive reinforcement. Therapy focuses on helping the client identify and schedule positive, rewarding activities to counteract avoidance and withdrawal.

Key Figures: Peter M. Lewinsohn, Neil S. Jacobson

Best For: Depression, low motivation, avoidance.

Behavioral therapy is an umbrella term for therapies that treat mental health disorders by identifying and changing potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. It functions on the idea that all behaviors are learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed. Key techniques include classical and operant conditioning.

Key Figures: John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Joseph Wolpe

Best For: Phobias, anxiety disorders, OCD, habit change.

A trauma therapy that uses the field of vision to locate "Brainspots"—eye positions that correlate with unprocessed trauma in the brain. By holding a specific eye position, the client can access and release stored emotional and physical trauma. It evolved from EMDR.

Key Figure: David Grand

Best For: Trauma, PTSD, anxiety, performance issues.

CBT is one of the most widely-used, short-term, goal-oriented therapies. It's based on the idea that psychological problems stem from unhelpful ways of thinking and learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. Treatment involves identifying and changing these thoughts and behaviors.

Key Figure: Aaron Beck

Best For: Depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, phobias.

This experiential therapy is based on the principle of "symptom coherence"—the idea that even distressing symptoms are produced for a compelling, unconscious reason. Therapy involves finding this "emotional truth" and bringing it into conscious awareness, which allows the symptom to naturally dissolve.

Key Figures: Bruce Ecker, Laurel Hulley

Best For: Deep-seated emotional issues, anxiety, depression.

CFT integrates cognitive-behavioral techniques with evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. It is designed to help people who struggle with high levels of shame and self-criticism. It teaches clients to cultivate self-compassion and receive compassion from others to regulate threat-based emotions.

Key Figure: Paul Gilbert

Best For: High shame, self-criticism, anxiety, depression, trauma.

DBT is a modified type of CBT. Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others. It emphasizes a balance between acceptance and change (the "dialectic").

Key Figure: Marsha M. Linehan

Best For: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), self-harm, suicidal ideation, complex emotional dysregulation.

An umbrella term for approaches that focus on the unconscious, shadow aspects, and the "depths" of the psyche. It includes Psychoanalysis and Analytical (Jungian) Psychology. It believes that healing comes from bringing unconscious material (dreams, symbols, complexes) into conscious awareness.

Key Figures: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung

Best For: Personal growth, finding meaning, long-standing patterns, self-exploration.

EFT is a humanistic, experiential approach primarily used in couples counseling. It is based on attachment theory and focuses on identifying and transforming negative interactional cycles between partners. The goal is to create a more secure emotional bond by helping partners express their deeper, underlying emotions.

Key Figures: Sue Johnson, Leslie Greenberg

Best For: Couples counseling, relationship distress, attachment issues.

This philosophical approach to therapy focuses on the "givens" of human existence: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. Therapy involves helping clients confront these anxieties and embrace their freedom to make authentic, meaningful choices, thereby taking responsibility for their own lives.

Key Figures: Rollo May, Irvin Yalom, Viktor Frankl

Best For: Life transitions, anxiety, finding meaning, facing mortality.

EMDR is a structured therapy primarily used for treating trauma and PTSD. It involves having the client recall distressing images while generating side-to-side eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation. This process is believed to help the brain properly process and integrate traumatic memories.

Key Figure: Francine Shapiro

Best For: Trauma, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks.

This approach views the family as an emotional unit or "system." Individuals' behaviors are understood within the context of their family relationships. Therapy focuses on changing the patterns of interaction and communication within the family system, rather than just focusing on one "identified patient."

Key Figures: Murray Bowen, Virginia Satir, Salvador Minuchin

Best For: Family conflict, child behavioral issues, relationship dynamics.

Gestalt therapy is an experiential and humanistic approach that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment. Techniques like the "empty chair" are used to help clients gain awareness of their "here and now" experience and integrate fragmented parts of their personality.

Key Figures: Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, Paul Goodman

A "third force" in psychology that emphasizes the whole person and their inherent drive toward self-actualization. It rejects the deterministic views of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Person-Centered Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, and Existential Therapy are all forms of humanistic psychology.

Key Figures: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Best For: Personal growth, self-esteem, finding meaning.

IFS is a parts-based model that views the mind as being made up of multiple "parts" or subpersonalities, each with its own intentions. It also posits a core "Self" that is inherently compassionate and whole. Therapy involves getting to know these parts and healing them, allowing the core Self to lead.

Key Figure: Richard C. Schwartz

Best For: Trauma, complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, eating disorders.

IPT is a time-limited therapy that focuses on resolving interpersonal problems. It is based on the idea that psychological symptoms, like depression, are often a response to difficulties in our relationships. Therapy focuses on one or two key relationship areas, such as unresolved grief or role transitions.

Key Figures: Gerald Klerman, Myrna Weissman

Best For: Depression, relationship problems, grief, life transitions.

This is the common name for Analytical Psychology, founded by Carl Jung. Please see the entry under 'A'.

Developed by Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy is a form of existential analysis. It is founded on the belief that the primary human drive is the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful in life (the "will to meaning").

Key Figure: Viktor Frankl

Best For: Finding purpose, existential anxiety, depression, life transitions.

MBCT combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness meditation. It was designed specifically to help people with recurrent depression. It teaches clients to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings without judgment, helping them disengage from negative thought patterns.

Key Figures: Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, John Teasdale

Best For: Recurrent depression, anxiety, stress.

MBSR is an 8-week group program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It teaches secular mindfulness meditation as a way of managing stress, anxiety, chronic pain, and illness. While not a formal psychotherapy, it forms the basis for many modern therapeutic mindfulness applications.

Key Figure: Jon Kabat-Zinn

Best For: Stress, chronic pain, anxiety, general wellness.

Narrative therapy views people as separate from their problems and helps them to "re-author" their life stories. It assumes that individuals have the skills and competencies to change their relationship with problems. The therapist helps the client deconstruct "problem-saturated" stories and co-author new, preferred stories.

Key Figures: Michael White, David Epston

Best For: Trauma, depression, identity issues, family conflict.

NLP is an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy. It focuses on the connection between neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic"), and behavioral patterns ("programming"). It aims to change these patterns to achieve specific goals. (Note: NLP is considered controversial and lacks robust empirical support compared to CBT or DBT).

Key Figures: Richard Bandler, John Grinder

Best For: Phobias, goal setting, performance enhancement.

A psychodynamic approach that evolved from psychoanalysis. It suggests that our personalities are shaped by our relationships with others, particularly our primary caregivers ("objects") in infancy. Therapy focuses on exploring these early "internal objects" and how they affect our present-day relationships.

Key Figures: Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Ronald Fairbairn

Best For: Personality disorders, relationship patterns, depression.

Founded by Carl Rogers, this humanistic approach is based on the idea that every individual has the capacity for growth. The therapist's role is not to direct the client, but to provide a supportive, non-judgmental environment characterized by three core conditions: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness.

Key Figure: Carl Rogers

Best For: Depression, anxiety, personal growth, self-esteem.

Play therapy is a form of counseling primarily used for children. It uses play as the child's natural medium of communication, allowing them to express their feelings and resolve problems. The therapist provides a safe space and selected play materials to help the child process experiences and develop coping skills.

Key Figures: Virginia Axline, Garry Landreth

Best For: Children, trauma, behavioral issues, family conflict.

Founded by Sigmund Freud, this is the original form of depth psychology. It is an intensive, long-term therapy (often multiple sessions per week) that aims to bring unconscious thoughts, feelings, and childhood conflicts into conscious awareness. Techniques include free association, dream analysis, and the analysis of transference.

Key Figure: Sigmund Freud

Best For: Deep-seated personality issues, recurrent patterns, history of trauma.

Psychodynamic therapy evolved from psychoanalysis. It is also focused on unconscious processes and early life experiences, but it is typically less intensive and shorter-term (e.g., once a week). It emphasizes the client's current relationships and how past experiences manifest in present-day behavior.

Key Figures: Freud, Jung, Adler, and many modern theorists.

This experiential therapy uses dramatic action methods to explore psychological issues. Clients use guided dramatization and role-playing to gain insight into their lives, understand and practice new behaviors, and process difficult emotions. It is often conducted in a group setting.

Key Figure: Jacob L. Moreno

Best For: Trauma, social anxiety, grief, group therapy.

Developed by Albert Ellis, REBT is a precursor to CBT. It is based on the "ABC" model: an Activating event (A) does not directly cause an emotional Consequence (C). Instead, it is the individual's irrational Beliefs (B) about the event that lead to the emotional distress. Therapy focuses on identifying, disputing, and replacing these irrational beliefs.

Key Figure: Albert Ellis

Best For: Anxiety, depression, anger management, phobias.

Developed by William Glasser, this approach focuses on the present and future, not the past. It is based on "Choice Theory," which states that all human behavior is driven by the need to satisfy five basic needs: survival, love/belonging, power, freedom, and fun. Therapy helps clients make more effective choices to meet their needs.

Key Figure: William Glasser

Best For: Behavioral issues, addiction, relationship problems.

A non-verbal, therapeutic approach that uses a sandbox, water, and a vast collection of miniature figures. Clients create "scenes" in the sandbox, which allows for the expression of unconscious thoughts and feelings. It is a form of depth psychology often used with children and adults.

Key Figure: Dora Kalff

Best For: Trauma, children, non-verbal clients, self-exploration.

Schema therapy is an integrative approach that combines elements of CBT, psychodynamic, and Gestalt therapy. It is designed to treat long-standing, difficult-to-change life patterns (or "schemas") that typically originate in childhood. It uses experiential techniques and a strong therapeutic relationship to heal these "early maladaptive schemas."

Key Figure: Jeffrey Young

Best For: Personality disorders, chronic depression, eating disorders, difficult-to-treat issues.

SFBT is a goal-directed, future-oriented therapy. Instead of focusing on the past or the details of the problem, it focuses on solutions. The therapist helps the client identify their strengths, resources, and times when the problem was less severe ("exceptions"), using questions like the "miracle question."

Key Figures: Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg

Best For: Specific problems, life transitions, goal-setting, short-term needs.

Developed by Peter Levine, SE is a body-focused approach to healing trauma. It is based on the idea that trauma gets "stuck" in the body's nervous system. Therapy involves gently guiding the client to develop awareness of their bodily sensations ("felt sense") to help their nervous system release this trapped survival energy.

Key Figure: Peter Levine

Best For: Trauma, PTSD, chronic stress, anxiety.

Developed by Eric Berne, TA is a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy. It is based on the idea that we interact from three "ego states": Parent, Adult, and Child. Therapy involves analyzing these "transactions" (interactions) and the "life scripts" or unconscious life plans we develop in childhood.

Key Figure: Eric Berne

Best For: Communication issues, relationship patterns, self-understanding.

This approach integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of human experience within the framework of modern psychology. It goes beyond the individual "persona" to explore spiritual, mystical, and peak experiences as part of the human journey toward healing and wholeness.

Key Figures: Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof

Best For: Spiritual exploration, finding meaning, personal growth.

TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents impacted by trauma. It integrates trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive-behavioral principles. It helps children process traumatic memories, manage distressing thoughts and feelings, and involves the child's non-offending caregiver to support their recovery.

Key Figures: Judith Cohen, Anthony Mannarino, Esther Deblinger

Best For: Children and adolescents with trauma/PTSD.

The UP is a form of CBT designed to treat a range of emotional disorders (like anxiety and depression) in a single, unified protocol. Instead of focusing on disorder-specific symptoms, it targets the underlying shared processes, such as difficulty with strong emotions and avoidance.

Key Figure: David H. Barlow

Best For: Co-occurring anxiety and depression, complex emotional disorders.

Developed by Hal and Sidra Stone, this is an experiential method for working with the many subpersonalities or "selves" within the psyche (e.g., the "Inner Critic," the "Pusher," the "Pleaser"). The goal is to develop an "Aware Ego Process" that can acknowledge these selves without over-identifying with any single one.

Key Figures: Hal and Sidra Stone

Best For: Self-awareness, inner conflict, relationship dynamics.

Also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare, this approach uses outdoor expeditions, survival skills, and group living in a wilderness setting as a therapeutic tool. It removes individuals from their normal environment to foster personal responsibility, teamwork, and coping skills.

Key Figures: Kurt Hahn, Larry Dean Olsen

Best For: Adolescents with behavioral issues, addiction, treatment resistance.

This approach uses expressive writing and journaling as a therapeutic tool. Writing about difficult experiences and emotions can help individuals process them, gain new perspectives, and reduce stress. It can be a primary therapy or used as an adjunct to other modalities.

Key Figure: James Pennebaker

Best For: Stress, trauma processing, self-reflection, grief.

Yoga therapy applies the techniques of yoga (postures, breathing, meditation) to address specific physical and mental health issues. It is a holistic, body-centered approach that aims to integrate body, mind, and spirit. It is often used as a complementary therapy alongside traditional psychotherapy.

Key Figures: T.K.V. Desikachar, B.K.S. Iyengar

Best For: Trauma, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, stress.