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[Article of Interest] Invitation to a Dialogue: Benefits of Talk Therapy
By Larry S. Sandberg
To the Editor [of the New York Times]:
We tend to divide treatments for mental illness into “psychological” approaches and “biological” ones; the former typically involve “talk therapy” and the latter medication. But this either-or way of thinking obscures the fact that talk therapy affects the brain and is no less biological than pills.
Numerous findings over the last two decades demonstrate how talk therapy alters the brain. Disabling conditions like clinical depression and anxiety can be treated effectively by understanding distorted patterns of thought, becoming aware of emotional conflicts that have not been conscious, or practicing new behaviors. Talk therapy is a potent treatment for serious mental disorders and not simply for the “worried well,” as it is sometimes characterized.
These conditions can also be treated with medication, either alone or in combination with talk therapy. Whereas the effects of medication tend to go away once the medication is stopped, the benefits of talk therapy can be enduring because of the significant changes that take place not only in the “mind” but in the “brain,” too. This is a real-life example of what the Nobel laureate Eric Kandel has discovered: learning affects the ways in which the brain forms new connections.
Why does this matter? It is important that the public know that talk therapy is an important tool in the healing process precisely because of its powerful effects on the brain. Medication, which is lifesaving for many, tends to be overprescribed. Rather than being introduced as part of a comprehensive treatment that includes psychotherapy, it is often used in its place. We should be aware of the cultural trends that devalue psychotherapy and the listening healer and the unintended consequences that may ensue.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/4251b946333fdcaf328820f84d355943/tumblr_mn7arz7DRj1rt6iypo1_500.jpg)
[Article of Interest] Invitation to a Dialogue: Benefits of Talk Therapy
By Larry S. Sandberg
To the Editor [of the New York Times]:
We tend to divide treatments for mental illness into “psychological” approaches and “biological” ones; the former typically involve “talk therapy” and the latter medication. But this either-or way of thinking obscures the fact that talk therapy affects the brain and is no less biological than pills.
Numerous findings over the last two decades demonstrate how talk therapy alters the brain. Disabling conditions like clinical depression and anxiety can be treated effectively by understanding distorted patterns of thought, becoming aware of emotional conflicts that have not been conscious, or practicing new behaviors. Talk therapy is a potent treatment for serious mental disorders and not simply for the “worried well,” as it is sometimes characterized.
These conditions can also be treated with medication, either alone or in combination with talk therapy. Whereas the effects of medication tend to go away once the medication is stopped, the benefits of talk therapy can be enduring because of the significant changes that take place not only in the “mind” but in the “brain,” too. This is a real-life example of what the Nobel laureate Eric Kandel has discovered: learning affects the ways in which the brain forms new connections.
Why does this matter? It is important that the public know that talk therapy is an important tool in the healing process precisely because of its powerful effects on the brain. Medication, which is lifesaving for many, tends to be overprescribed. Rather than being introduced as part of a comprehensive treatment that includes psychotherapy, it is often used in its place. We should be aware of the cultural trends that devalue psychotherapy and the listening healer and the unintended consequences that may ensue.
