How to follow psychological therapy at IPITIA
At IPITIA, Institut Psicològic Internacional de Barcelona, we are focused on therapeutic efficacy and our main interest is to help everyone who starts therapy with us to overcome their obsessive disorder or to reduce it significantly. That is why we consider it essential that anyone wishing to start psychological treatment with us should bear in mind the need to commit to the therapy and to know, from the beginning, that effectiveness, as in most cases, comes as there is a commitment and action linked to the procedure.
We, therefore, consider it important to keep the following aspects in mind:
The therapy carried out at IPITIA is based on our own eclectic methodology (only applied by our team of psychologists), derived from different psychological currents, which we have called Analytical-Experiential.
Analytical in that we seek, beyond the possible genetic predisposition, the environmental and circumstantial causes that may have triggered an obsessive disorder.
And experiential because we encourage the practice of certain activities that help to activate both instincts and emotions as well as a determined and courageous incursion into one’s own life, connected with the person’s most intimate desires on an existential level.
Therapeutic procedures last approximately six months to two years, but can last longer. It is therefore much better to extend the therapy over time, even if the frequency is less, and at the same time to be able to carry out the external activities agreed between patient and therapist, than to try to obtain immediate results.
In terms of therapeutic efficacy, we can say that we achieve a significant reduction in symptoms in a high percentage of cases, a complete overcoming (without medication and without relapses, as far as we know, at least for four or five years) in another high percentage and we also have resistant cases (we know the causes of this), and then there are obviously those patients who abandon the treatment in the first few weeks.
We consider it appropriate, although always at the patient’s discretion, to take psychotropic drugs, prescribed by a psychiatrist, at least during the first phases of therapy. Subsequently, in the patient-psychologist-psychiatrist dynamic, when the psychological therapy begins to have an effect, an agreement is sought to change or progressively reduce the medication, if this is appropriate.
Once the covid pandemic has been overcome and normality has returned, we will re-establish the group dynamics and therapies (extensive and intensive) which are free of charge and recommended, both for patients in person and for the centre’s online patients.
It is essential not to look for an immediate effect in the first sessions. We are aware of the psychological pain involved in this disorder and we take the therapeutic processes with the utmost seriousness, but the changes take place in the medium and long term.
Our interest is to continue deepening and investigating in order to be more and more resolute and effective at a therapeutic level, especially with severe cases of obsessive disorder.
OCD can be significantly reduced and in many cases it can be completely overcome. When this happens, it is necessary to follow a certain lifestyle, the components of which we have clearly identified.
It is best before starting therapy with us to be clear that it will require a commitment, although no more than for any other psychological trend. That is why we do not recommend the idea of trying three or four sessions to see what happens, because in addition to wasting time and money for the patient, it can generate frustration that leads to the idea that OCD cannot be overcome and that you have to live with it forever.
We don’t see it that way.
That is why before starting therapy with us it is better to think about it, because once you have decided, you have to work on it.
We can do weekly or fortnightly sessions, and the patient can end the therapy at any time he/she wants, but we recommend to get deeply involved and not to stop until the best results are obtained. The improvement should be noticeable as the therapy progresses.
IPITIA’s team of psychologists carry out clinical sessions and continuous supervision in which they evaluate, in a clearly confidential manner, those cases that offer the greatest resistance.
In short, the psychological treatment we offer requires time and involvement on the part of the patient and, of course, on the part of the therapist.
Damián Ruiz
Director of IPITIA
April, 2021
Barcelona
www.ipitia.com
