Psychotherapy consists of talking with a trained expert to learn how to deal with your depression and anxiety. The expert can be a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or counselor.

Two of the approaches used by these experts are interpersonal therapy and cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT). Both of these methods are used to treat depression and anxiety. How they are used differs.

Therapy for Depression

"Talk" therapy helps people better understand their problems and helps them work out these problems by talking them over with the therapist. Sometimes they are given issues or"homework" to work on between sessions. Many forms of talk therapy can help depressed people in as little as 10 to 20 weeks.

Interpersonal Therapy

This approach looks at the patients' personal relationships that both cause depression and make it worse.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

This approach helps people learn how to get more fulfillment through their own actions. The person is shown how to unlearn the patterns in his or her behavior that add to, or are a result of, the depression.

Therapy for Anxiety

In treating anxiety, it helps to look at both parts of CBT - the cognitive part and the behavioral part.

Cognitive

The cognitive part helps people change the thinking patterns that keep them from overcoming their fears.

- For example, a person with panic attacks might be helped to see that these
  attacks are not really heart attacks, as he or she might have thought. The
  person is shown that they don't have to jump to the worst possible conclusion.
- A person with social phobia might be helped to overcome the belief that others
  are always watching and judging him or her.

Behavioral

The behavioral part of CBT tries to change how people react to things that make
them anxious. An important technique, called exposure, is used. Exposure is when
people confront the things they fear.

- For example, if someone has a fear of dirt and germs, the therapist might urge
  the person to get his or her hands dirty and then not let him or her wash them
  for a certain amount of time. During this time, the therapist would help the
  person cope with the anxiety. After doing this a number of times, the person
  will be less anxious.
- A person with social phobia might be urged to spend time in social situations
  that cause fear, without giving in to the urge to leave.
- Or people who have faced danger and trauma might be asked to relive the event
  in detail, as if in slow motion. By doing this, they are, in a way, going through it
  again in safety. If this is done with care, the person might be able to reduce the   anxiety that comes with memories of the event.

People might also be shown how to relax and manage anxiety by doing deep
breathing exercises.

The Need for Medication

Therapy alone might not help depression and anxiety. There could be chemical
imbalances that cause these conditions. It might be important to take medicine.
For many people, therapy along with medicine is the best treatment plan. It can
help fight depression and anxiety on all fronts.