lly begin to believe you're going crazy . . . losing control . . . having a heart attack . . . making a fool of yourself . . .going to crash the car, whatever your worst fear is, and your symptoms escalate to the panic level.Cognitive psychotherapists are actively involved and focus on specific problems in the present. Cognitive therapists teach depressed people how to examine and recognize negative thinking patterns and negative automatic thoughts. By identifying these thought distortions, depressed patients can learn how to modify them and thus alter their depressed mood. Patients often keep a log of their thoughts and feelings that they use with their therapist to identify dysfunctional thinking patterns. Patients practice their new cognitive strategies in real life, discuss the outcomes with their therapist, and modify their approaches. Many therapists classify themselves as Cognitive-Behavioral therapists. They combine behavior therapy techniques, such as relaxation training, and cognitive techniques, such as thought restructuring.Expressive therapies are often used to treat patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Expressive therapies include art, music, movement, drama, and creative writing. Sometimes, patients have a difficult time expressing themselves, especially when they try to talk about emotions. By using creative media, patients can express anger, frustration, and other emotions that they may otherwise keep inside. Therapists often use expressive therapy in conjunction with individual or group therapy to enhance treatment.Family therapy often helps families that have difficulties communicating and handling conflict with each other. One viewpoint is that a family operates as a system; when one member acts, that action affects all the others. When one person changes how he or she interacts with another member, it will affect the rest of the family. One way to explain this idea is to use a sports team as an analogy. A team wor...
