In therapy, you engage with a mental health professional to learn to manage or overcome challenging situations, emotions, and behaviours affect your life. This will likely involve working through some negative events or distressing thoughts. It may be difficult in the moment, but the end result is usually a happier, more fulfilling life.

There are many forms of therapy that are targeted to the specific mental struggle the patient is experiencing and differs for the individual based on what the most appropriate method is for them as an individual.

I am researching into the different types of therapy, how they are used and what they are helpful for, in order to inform the design of our game experience. We have established that the game should have the ability to act as a tool for emotional and physical regulation, as well as inform users on how to cope with their struggles. By looking into strategies used in therapies, we may be able to come up with some useful features or mechanics to implement into our design.

Types of Therapy: Different Types of Approaches and How They Work

Types of therapy:

• Psychodynamic
• Behavioural
• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Humanistic

While some of these approaches work best for specific struggles, each of them can be applied to a broad range of issues. Therapy has to be different for every patient, the experience being catered to the individual, but amongst them there will be techniques that are useful for most people. An example I am familiar with is the 5,4,3,2,1 method used for grounding and control when someone is suffering with an anxiety attack.

Psychodynamic

What Is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy? | BetterHelp

What is it?

This is an example of a talking therapy. It's an in-depth method that's used to encourage participants to talk and to share about themselves and their relationships and interactions, focusing on the way that the patient reacts and interacts with the world around them.