I wanted to post some reliable information about psychology, counseling, and hypnotherapy. That way, people can judge for themselves how accurate things are.
This will not refer to any events in the actual drama, which I haven't finished watching since I'm waiting for it to finish airing first. Also, the following information is about how things work in the USA (not in China where the drama is set).
Psychology vs psychiatry vs mental health counselor, in a nutshell:
- Psychiatrist: went to medical school and became a medical doctor, then did a 3 year residency to specialize in psychiatry. Can do counseling and psychotherapy, but many psychiatrists primarily treat with prescription medications and refer to counselors or psychologists to do the therapy.
- Psychologist: did not go to medical school and therefore typically can't prescribe medications. Has a doctorate, but that doctorate is a PhD, PsyD, or EdD, and not an MD or DO; after getting the doctorate, the psychologist does 2-3 years of clinical training in doing psychotherapy/counseling.
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor: Has a masters in psychology or counseling. After getting the masters, they do at least 2 years working with supervision. They can do counseling or psychotherapy.
Counseling vs psychotherapy:
- Counseling: focuses on solving a particular problem or on learning specific techniques for coping with or avoiding problem areas. Typically more short-term. This can be for anxiety, relationship problems, etc. (think marriage counseling).
- Psychotherapy: focuses on changing a person's patterns of thinking and behavior with a goal to help people feel better equipped to manage stress and understand patterns in their behavior, so that they can shift their responses to more functional and successful strategies.
- Cognitive therapy: goal to help patients recognize and change unhealthy thinking patterns and inaccurate beliefs (change their worldview).
- Behavioral therapy: goal to help patients learn new behavioral patterns. For example, exposures to phobias to desensitize patients to their fears falls into this category.
- Hypnotherapy: A complementary/alternative type of psychotherapy. It's considered "alternative" because it has been associated with a risk of forming false memories, so it isn't a mainstream type of therapy any longer. It uses guided relaxation and concentrated attention to achieve a heightened state of awareness on a specific task or thought.
- Suggestion therapy: while in a state of hypnosis, the therapist suggests changes in behavior or perception. There is some scientific evidence this is helpful in treating pain, anxiety, etc.
- Patient analysis: the relaxed state is used to explore or identify potential root causes (e.g. past trauma) of a disorder.
A more in depth explanation on a reputable website:
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/guide-to-psychiatry-and-counseling
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-hypnotherapy
