Not every person who comes to therapy needs the same way of working. What helps one patient may not be enough for another or simply does not meet their needs. This is the assumption of IPSK (Integrative Psychotherapy and Systemic Counseling). Instead of relying solely on one therapeutic stream, he uses solutions taken from different approaches, selecting them for a specific person, their experiences and the purpose with which they come to therapy.
What is IPSK integrative psychotherapy?
The IPSK method assumes that a person cannot be reduced to a single problem or a single diagnosis. Everyone brings their own story, way of experiencing emotions, family experiences and relationships with other people to the office. For this reason, the therapy is not based on a ready-made scheme of procedure, but develops with the patient and takes into account what happens at the subsequent stages of the process.
In practice, the therapist uses tools developed by various schools of psychotherapy. Depending on the needs, these can be elements of cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic or systemic therapy. However, it is not about randomly combining methods, but about a conscious selection of techniques that best suit the patient’s current situation.
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Integrative psychotherapy – how does the therapy work?
The first meetings are primarily used to get to know the patient. The therapist wants to understand what the person comes to the office with, what their current situation looks like and what made them decide to seek help right now. The conversation often also concerns previous experiences, important relationships or events that may have affected the current well-being. However, it is not about recreating the entire curriculum vitae, but about capturing those elements that may be important for further work.
Over time, there is room for a deeper analysis of the problems. For one person, the therapy will focus mainly on emotions, for another on fixed thinking patterns or difficulties arising in relationships with loved ones. There is no single scenario for meetings, because their course depends on what the patient is facing and what goals they want to achieve.
Flexible approach instead of a single scheme
Integrative psychotherapy does not assume that all difficulties can be solved in the same way. This is why the therapist uses different methods and selects them for a specific situation. Sometimes exercises that help you better notice your own reactions are more important, other times a calm analysis of past experiences or how to build relationships with other people turns out to be more useful.
The therapy process may change as the patient progresses. Topics that seem to be the most important at the beginning sometimes give way to completely different issues. Such flexibility allows you to respond to current needs and makes the therapy not the implementation of a previously prepared plan, but develops at a natural pace.
Who can benefit from integrative psychotherapy?
This form of support is used by people who come forward with very different difficulties. For some, the impulse to start therapy is long-term stress or low mood, others want to better cope with anxiety, relationship crisis or recurring problems in contact with people. It also happens that someone cannot unambiguously name their difficulty, but has the feeling that they have not been functioning as they would like for a long time.
Integrative psychotherapy is used both during individual meetings and in work with couples and families. The method of therapy is not predetermined – it changes depending on the needs, so two people with a similar problem can work in a completely different way. It is the individual adjustment of the therapeutic process that is one of the most important elements of this approach.
Integrative psychotherapy – why does the individual approach matter?
There is no one model of therapy that is suitable for everyone. Each person experiences difficulties in a different way and has their own resources, so the therapeutic process requires flexibility and attention to changing needs. IPSK integrative psychotherapy is based on such an assumption. It combines proven methods from various streams of psychotherapy, thanks to which it is possible to create a way of working tailored to a specific person, and not the other way around.