Overview of Psychotherapy in Psychiatry

Psychotherapy continues to be an integral part of psychiatric practice. The rich, interesting history of psychotherapy in medicine and psychiatry set the background to current practice. Psychoeducation provides patients with necessary information and forms the basic building block for all other psychotherapies. Supportive therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapies constitute the core of the therapeutic styles, but dialectical behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, interpersonal psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, hypnosis, and group psychotherapy are also practiced in current psychiatry. Key therapeutic tenets from each of these disciplines are incorporated into the medical practice of psychiatry.  This review contains 5 figures, 13 tables, and 68 references Key words: cognitive-behavioral therapy, current psychiatric practices, dialectical behavioral therapy, psychiatrist as therapist, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychoeducation, psychotherapy, supportive psychotherapy