The American Psychological Association (APA) recently launched a new awareness initiative about the benefits of psychotherapy. There are a couple cute videos (below) that mock the pharmaceutical commercials that we see too often. Though I very much appreciate this approach, I do not fully agree with the claim that psychotherapy has no negative side effects. I can’t think of anything we can ingest, be exposed to or do that doesn’t have some side effects; for example everything we do comes at the expense of something else that we otherwise could have done. I speak often about “compromise formation” with my patients and consulting clients, and with this concept, I believe firmly that psychotherapy does have side effects, but that they are almost always “worth it” from a cost-benefit analysis perspective.
Enjoy the videos…