(2002), hypothesized that manualized regimen of psychotherapy compared in a controlled clinical trial would overlap considerably in process and technique and that intervention strategies common to both treatments would be responsible for patient change. The researchers chose to conduct this study as a result of assumptions in most research that when a patient improves after undergoing psychotherapy, the improvement was caused by the specific interventions that were prescribed by a manual and monitored for adherence (Ablon et
Bickford (2004) observed that for both approaches, individual differences reflect different behavioral repertoires. Under the psychoanalytic approach, these repertoires are rooted in different ego strategies in mediating between reality and instinctual drives and wish-fulfillment, and in effects of different experiences during periods of psychosexual development (Bickford, 2004)
Gestalt therapy attempts to free the patient from mental, emotional, and physical energy blocks. From this perspective, every psychological problem can be explored and resolved as a polarized conflict between two aspects in personality (Fiebert, 1990)
Hoffman (2004) states that the spiritual existential approach is not necessarily a religious approach in the sense of believing in God, though it often could be viewed this way. The spiritual approach is one in which some type of transcendent or embodied answer to the major existential questions is believed to exist (Hoffman, 2004)
This research study tested the cognitive model of depression, which states that depressed individuals have stable cognitive core beliefs that develop as a consequence of early learning. These core beliefs predispose people toward negative interpretations of life events, which in turn, lead the depressed person to engage in depressive behavior (Jacobson, et;al;
Langevin (1983), states that the effectiveness of therapeutic treatment is often measured by its contribution to restoration of emotional health and normal functioning along with the subjective sense of well being of the individual. Normal behavior may be defined either by reference to the applicable social norms or by statistical frequency (Langevin, 1983)
Like Freud, I also believe that there is an internal battle occurring between an individual's mental awareness with their physical awareness. Aspects of these conflicts are unconscious and influence our behavior without our awareness (Strisik & Strisik, 2005)