Page 4 - LN 4_Therapuetic Approaches

Ethics in Psychotherapy

1. Informed consent needs to be taken.
2. Confidentiality of the client should be maintained.
3. Alleviating personal distress and suffering should be the goal of all attempts of
the therapist.
4. Integrity of the practitioner-client relationship is important.
5. Respect for human rights and dignity.
6. Professional competence and skills are essential.

Alternative Therapies

➢ These are alternative treatment possibilities to the conventional drug treatment or
psychotherapy.
➢ There are many alternative therapies such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture,
herbal remedies etc.
➢ Yoga is an ancient Indian technique detailed in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutras.
Yoga as it is commonly called today either refers to only the asanas or pranayama,
or to a combination of the two.
➢ Meditation refers to the practice of focusing attention on breath or on an object or
thought or a mantra. More focus is given to attention.
➢ In Vipasana meditation:
~ also known as mindfulness-based meditation
~ there is no fixed object or thought to hold the attention
~ the person passively observes the various bodily sensations and thoughts that
are passing through in her or his awareness.
~ It helps in treating depression.
~ This meditation would help the patients to process emotional stimuli better and
hence prevent biases in the processing of these stimuli.

➢ Sudarshana Kriya Yoga (SKY):
~ involves rapid breathing techniques to induce hyperventilation is found to be a
bneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress related medical illnesses,
substance abuse, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
~ Yoga techniques enhance well-being, mood, attention, mental focus, and stress
tolerance.
~ Research conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health and
Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India, has shown that SKY reduces depression.
~ Further, alcoholic patients who practice SKY have reduced depression and stress
levels.
~ Insomnia is treated with yoga. Yoga reduces the time to go to sleep and improves
the quality of sleep.