Therapies

The ways into the same human questions.

There is no single road to understanding yourself. These are the major approaches — what each believes, who it tends to help, and the thinker who first drew its map.

from 1890s
Psychoanalysis

The original talking cure. Long, deep exploration of the unconscious, early life and the patterns we repeat.

Helps most with
Recurring patternsSelf-understandingLong-standing distress
Key ideas
from 1910s
Analytical (Jungian) Therapy

A journey toward wholeness through symbols, dreams and the integration of the shadow.

Helps most with
Meaning & midlifeDreams & symbolsBecoming whole
Key ideas
from 1940s
Person-Centered Therapy

You hold your own answers. The therapist offers warmth, genuineness and deep acceptance so they can surface.

Helps most with
Self-worthFeeling heardPersonal growth
Key ideas
from 1960s
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

A practical, present-focused method: notice the thoughts that drive feelings, then test and reshape them.

Helps most with
AnxietyLow moodStuck thinking
Key ideas
from 1940s
Logotherapy

Built on the search for meaning. Even in suffering, we can choose our stance and find a reason to go on.

Helps most with
EmptinessLoss & sufferingSense of purpose
Key ideas
from 1950s
Behavioral Therapy

Change what you do, and feeling follows. Habits reshaped through reinforcement and practice.

Helps most with
HabitsPhobiasConcrete change
Key ideas
from 1990s
Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Holds acceptance and change together — teaching mindfulness, riding out distress, and steadying intense emotions.

Helps most with
Intense emotionsSelf-harm urgesUnstable relationships
Key ideas
from 1980s
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Make room for hard inner experience instead of fighting it, then act on what you truly value.

Helps most with
AvoidanceChronic worryLiving by values
Key ideas
from 1990s
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Blends cognitive therapy with mindfulness so you relate to thoughts and moods differently — and stop the relapse spiral.

Helps most with
Recurring depressionRuminationMood relapse
Key ideas
from 1979
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Uses meditation and body awareness to change your relationship to stress, pain, and difficult feeling.

Helps most with
StressChronic painOverwhelm
Key ideas
from 1987
EMDR

Processes stuck trauma memories with guided recall and bilateral stimulation, so they lose their charge.

Helps most with
TraumaPTSDDistressing memories
Key ideas
from 1970s
Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Treats symptoms by working the relationships around them — grief, role changes, disputes, and isolation.

Helps most with
DepressionLife transitionsRelationship strain
Key ideas
from 1950s
Gestalt Therapy

Lives in the present moment — awareness, the body, and the unfinished business you keep avoiding.

Helps most with
Self-awarenessStuck feelingsAvoided issues
Key ideas
from 1950s
Existential Therapy

Faces the givens of being human — freedom, meaning, isolation, and death — and the choices they ask of you.

Helps most with
MeaningBig life choicesMortality & loss
Key ideas
from 1980s
Emotion-Focused Therapy

Treats emotions as signals — helping you reach, understand, and transform them rather than override them.

Helps most with
Emotional avoidanceSelf-criticismUnprocessed feeling
Key ideas
from 1980s
Emotionally Focused Therapy (Couples)

Reads couple distress through attachment needs, breaking the negative cycle and rebuilding a secure bond.

Helps most with
Couple conflictDistanceRebuilding trust
Key ideas
from 1990s
Schema Therapy

Reaches the old patterns formed by unmet childhood needs, and reworks them through emotion and the relationship.

Helps most with
Lifelong patternsPersonality difficultiesChildhood wounds
Key ideas
from 1990s
Mentalization-Based Therapy

Strengthens the ability to read your own and others’ minds, especially when emotions run high.

Helps most with
Emotional floodingRelationship rupturePersonality difficulties
Key ideas
from 1980s
Transference-Focused Psychotherapy

Uses the live therapy relationship to surface and integrate split-apart images of self and other.

Helps most with
Identity instabilityIntense relationshipsPersonality difficulties
Key ideas
from 2000s
Compassion-Focused Therapy

Builds self-compassion to quiet shame and the harsh inner critic that keeps the threat system on.

Helps most with
ShameSelf-criticismEmotional dysregulation
Key ideas
from 1980s
Motivational Interviewing

A collaborative way to resolve mixed feelings and grow your own reasons for change.

Helps most with
AmbivalenceHabit changeAddiction
Key ideas
from 1980s
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Skips deep problem analysis for the future you want — your strengths, exceptions, and the next small step.

Helps most with
Feeling stuckGoal settingQuick focus
Key ideas
from 1980s
Narrative Therapy

You live by stories. It separates the person from the problem and helps author a preferred one.

Helps most with
IdentitySelf-blameReframing a story
Key ideas
from 1950s
Bowen Family Systems Therapy

Sees personal struggles inside the family’s emotional system, passed down across generations.

Helps most with
Family patternsDifferentiationGenerational themes
Key ideas
from 1960s
Structural Family Therapy

Treats family symptoms by reshaping boundaries, hierarchies, and the coalitions that keep them in place.

Helps most with
Family conflictParenting rolesBoundaries
Key ideas
from 1970s
Strategic Family Therapy

Shifts stuck family patterns with targeted tasks, reframing, and well-aimed directives.

Helps most with
Repeating conflictsBehavior problemsStuck dynamics
Key ideas
from 1990s
Internal Family Systems

Treats the mind as parts — and heals through Self-leadership and compassion toward each of them.

Helps most with
Inner conflictTraumaSelf-criticism
Key ideas
from 1920s
Psychodrama

Explores inner and relational life through enactment, role reversal, and the group as a stage.

Helps most with
Stuck rolesGroup workActing it out
Key ideas
from 1950s
Transactional Analysis

Maps how we speak from Parent, Adult, and Child — and the repeated "games" that shape our relationships.

Helps most with
CommunicationRelationship patternsSelf-understanding
Key ideas
from 1960s
Reality Therapy

We choose behavior to meet basic needs — so it leans on responsibility, choice, and present action.

Helps most with
Decision-makingAccountabilityPresent focus
Key ideas
from 1940s
Play Therapy

Lets children express and work through feeling in their natural language: play, not words.

Helps most with
ChildrenBig feelingsAfter trauma
Key ideas
from 1940s
Art Therapy

Creative expression brings emotional experience to the surface, where it can be seen and integrated.

Helps most with
Hard-to-say feelingsTraumaSelf-expression
Key ideas
from 2000s
Positive Psychotherapy

Builds on strengths, meaning, engagement, and good relationships rather than only fixing what’s wrong.

Helps most with
Low motivationBuilding strengthsWellbeing
Key ideas
from 1950s
Ericksonian Hypnotherapy

Uses focused trance, indirect suggestion and story — meeting you exactly where you are to open new options.

Helps most with
Stuck habitsAnxietyPain & sleep
Key ideas

Psipas is a tool for reflection and learning, not a clinical service. If you’re struggling, a licensed professional can help you choose the approach that fits.