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5. Psychotherapeutic approaches
Psychotherapeutic approaches aim to mitigate anomalies of behaviour and emotional suffering by applying emotional-psychological measures.
The approach taken in psychoanalysis, analytical psychotherapy probing the subconscious, is to come to terms with past experience by becoming conscious of and reflecting on it. To this purpose, access to the patient's subconscious mind is sought with the aim to bring forth the memories stored there and to uncover complexes of anxieties, hopes, rage, desire and annoyance. Among other methods, this is achieved by observing and interpreting dreams, and by working through the developing relationship between the therapist and the patient at an affective-emotional level. The main goal is not to avoid future difficulties but to know in a case of conflict "where it comes from" and to react otherwise than previously.
The therapy can take a great amount of time, as the patient's entire psychological structure is considered in detail. In addition, the specialists do not seem to agree about the specific risks and side effects of psychoanalytical therapy for cancer patients.
In conversation therapy, the patient is motivated to analyse his problems with himself and his surroundings in conversation with the therapist. In this case, explicit reference to the subconscious is not necessarily made. One form of conversation therapy is autonomy training, which was developed by Grossarth-Maticek and colleagues especially for cancer patients (ref. 1 - 3, 16, 17): Problem zones are identified and with some effort ("training") by the patients, they often succeed in defining at least their inner life autonomously.
Behavioural therapy, which results in an adaptation of behaviour, is the simplest approach and the one which shows initial success most quickly. It is based on the assumption that behaviour - also harmful misbehaviour - has been learned and thus can be unlearned. Here, the patient does not need to take his psychological structure into account to any extent, but only certain types of behaviour which are predestined to be disharmonious. In the extended version, deviations are also treated on the basis of learning theories, e.g. with the technique of deconditioning described in the next section, which can act to break down deeply rooted types of behaviour or reaction.
Next chapter: 6. Deconditioning and Vipassana Meditation