Does Therapy Help? What Form of Therapy Works Best?

Common questions I am asked are, “Does therapy help?”, “Can therapy help with ___________?”, and, “What form of therapy works best?” As a psychologist who works with individuals, couples, and families, I can confidently say that therapy can change lives. Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, or simply feeling stuck, you can find a form of treatment that offers a structured, compassionate space to find clarity, learn new skills, and move toward meaningful change. So many people assume they have to be in crisis to seek help, but in reality, therapy is for anyone who wants to understand themselves better, break unhelpful patterns, or build stronger relationships.

This post answers the above and other questions, including “Does therapy help with depression?” and “Does therapy help with anxiety?”

Does Therapy Help?

Therapy helps for a wide range of emotional, psychological, and relational challenges. Whether you’re dealing with overwhelming feelings, recurring conflict, or want help with major life transitions, it provides a safe, structured space to explore issues, develop insight, and build practical coping strategies. Numerous studies show that it can produce lasting improvements in mood, behavior, and functioning, often as effectively as medication—and in some cases, more so. Importantly, this type of treatment is not just for those in crisis. It can enhance well-being, build self-awareness, improve communication, and support personal growth.

The effectiveness depends on several factors, including the nature of the issue, the approach used, and the strength of the relationship between therapist and client. For many people, therapy offers a uniquely supportive environment where they can gain clarity, acquire new skills, and work through entrenched patterns with the guidance of a trained professional.

Here’s how therapy helps in specific situations:

Does Therapy Help with Depression?

Yes. Therapy is a proven treatment for depression, especially for mild to moderate cases, and often complements medication in more severe cases. It helps individuals identify the roots of their depression, shift unhelpful thought patterns, and re-engage with life in meaningful ways.

Effective therapies for depression include:

• Cognitive Behavioral (CBT): Teaches how to challenge negative thinking and increase positive behaviors.
• Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): Focuses on improving relationships and resolving social stressors.
• Psychodynamic: Helps explore underlying emotional conflicts, often rooted in early experiences.
• Behavioral Activation: Encourages scheduling of pleasurable or meaningful activities to combat withdrawal and apathy.

So, does therapy help with depression? Absolutely!

Does Therapy Help with Anxiety?

Yes. It is highly effective for all types of anxiety, including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, and treating specific phobias. It helps reduce distress, improve functioning, and increase confidence in managing anxious thoughts and situations.

Commonly used therapies include:

• CBT for Social Anxiety (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Identifies anxious thought patterns and replaces them with realistic thinking, while reducing avoidance behaviors.
• Exposure Therapy: Involves facing feared situations in a safe, gradual way to reduce avoidance and reactivity.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Encourages mindfulness and commitment to personal values in the presence of anxiety.
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): Combines mindfulness meditation with cognitive techniques.

Does therapy help with anxiety? It can be invaluable!

Does Couples Therapy Help?

Yes. Couples treatment can be highly effective at improving communication, resolving recurring conflicts, rebuilding trust, and enhancing emotional intimacy. Even couples not in crisis can benefit from therapy to deepen their connection or navigate changes like parenting or relocation.

Well-supported approaches include:

• Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT): Focuses on attachment needs and emotional bonding.
• Gottman Method: Based on decades of research, targeting communication patterns and conflict resolution.
• Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT): Combines acceptance and behavior change strategies.
• Cognitive Behavioral Couples Therapy (CBCT): Works on identifying and reshaping distorted beliefs and unhelpful interaction patterns.

Does Family Therapy Help?

Yes. Family treatment can help improve dynamics, address communication breakdowns, support children or teens with emotional or behavioral challenges, and heal from collective stress like trauma, divorce, or illness. It’s beneficial when one member’s challenges impact the entire household. It can also help with family estrangement or to help blended families.

Common family therapy models include:

• Structural Family Therapy: Reorganizes unhealthy family roles and boundaries.
• Strategic Family Therapy: Targets specific patterns and behaviors through focused interventions.
• Narrative Family Therapy: Helps the family “re-author” their story in a more empowering way.
• Functional Family Therapy (FFT): Often used with at-risk youth, integrating behavior change and relationship improvement.

Final Thought:

Whether it’s for emotional health, relationship repair, or navigating complex transitions, therapy empowers individuals to make lasting changes, gain a deeper understanding of themselves, and lead more fulfilling lives.

What Form of Therapy Should I Choose?

The right form of therapy depends on what you’re struggling with, how you prefer to communicate, and what kind of change you’re seeking. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here’s a guide to help you decide:

1. What Are You Seeking Help For?

• Anxiety or Depression:
  • Cognitive Behavioral (CBT) is one of the most researched and effective therapies for both.
  • Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) or Mindfulness-Based Therapy may help if you want to manage distress rather than change your thoughts directly.
  • Interpersonal (IPT) is useful if your symptoms are linked to relationship stress or life transitions.
• Relationship or Marital Issues:
  • Emotionally Focused (EFT) and the Gottman Method are excellent for improving emotional connection and communication.
  • Integrative Behavioral Couples (IBCT) helps with both acceptance and behavioral change.
• Family Conflict or Parenting Struggles:
  • Structural helps reorganize family roles and boundaries.
  • Strategic focuses on resolving specific problematic patterns.
  • Family-Based is often used with children or teens, especially if one family member is struggling with behavior, eating issues, or school problems.
• Self-Exploration, Past Trauma, or Complex Emotional Patterns:
  • Psychodynamic or Jungian approaches explore your past, subconscious conflicts, and inner world.
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is especially effective for trauma and PTSD.

2. Do You Want Practical Tools or Deep Insight?

• Choose CBT, ACT, or Solution-Focused Therapy if you want short-term, structured sessions with clear strategies and homework.
• Choose Psychodynamic or Humanistic Therapy if you want to explore your emotions, past experiences, or identity more deeply over time.

3. How Do You Prefer to Engage?

• Talk-Based: Most therapies involve verbal dialogue and reflection.
• Creative Counseling: If you express yourself best through movement, drawing, or music, look into Art Therapy, Music Therapy, or Drama Therapy.
• Body-Based: If you carry trauma or anxiety physically, Somatic Experiencing or Sensorimotor  approaches may be right for you.
• Virtual Therapy Options: Many therapies are now offered online, making access easier.

Final Tips:

• Start with your goals. Do you want symptom relief, deeper insight, better relationships, or all of the above?
• Don’t worry about choosing perfectly at first. Many therapists integrate techniques from various approaches tailored to your specific needs.
• A strong connection with your therapist is just as important—if not more—than the approach they use.

If you’re unsure, consider a consultation session to discuss the therapist’s approach and how it aligns with your concerns. You’re allowed to ask questions and switch therapists if it’s not the right match. We do not take it personally at all when people want to switch – in fact, we can often help you find a better match.

Can Therapy Help Virtually?

Yes. Virtual approaches can be just as effective as in-person. Research consistently shows that online approaches (also called teletherapy or telehealth counseling) are effective for treating major depression, anxiety, PTSD, relationship issues, and more. It offers convenience, privacy, and access to therapists who may not be nearby, especially helpful for people with busy schedules, health limitations, or those living in rural areas.

Therapies that work well online include:

• CBT (Cognitive Behavioral)
• ACT (Acceptance and Commitment)
• Couples therapy (e.g., EFT, Gottman Method)
• Mindfulness-based approaches
• Existential and Logotherapy

Video sessions, phone calls, and even text-based therapy can all be helpful depending on your comfort level and needs. What matters most is the connection with your therapist and your commitment to the process.

Can Therapy Help If It’s Only Once per Week?

Yes. Most approaches are designed around a once-a-week model, which has proven to be effective. Weekly sessions provide enough consistency to build a strong relationship with your therapist, reflect on insights between meetings, and practice new coping strategies in daily life. For many people, this rhythm strikes the right balance between support and autonomy.

In some cases, people may benefit from more frequent sessions (e.g., during crises or intensive treatment), while others taper down to biweekly or monthly check-ins once progress has been made. The frequency can be adjusted based on goals, availability, and needs.

Can Therapy Help Teenagers?

Yes. Therapy for teens can be life-changing. Adolescence is a pivotal period for emotional development, identity formation, and learning to manage stress. Meeting with a psychologist helps teens navigate anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, social pressures, family conflict, and academic stress. It also gives them a safe space to express themselves without judgment.

Common therapy types for teens include:

• CBT: Teaches coping skills for anxiety, depression, and negative thinking.
• DBT for Teens (Dialectical Behavior Therapy): Helps with emotional regulation and impulse control—especially effective for teens struggling with intense emotions or self-harm.
• Family Therapy: Improves communication and understanding between parents and teens.
• Art or Play: Offers non-verbal ways to process emotions, especially for younger or less verbal teens.

A therapist trained in adolescent development will tailor the approach to the teen’s personality and challenges. With the right fit, therapy can improve a teen’s mental health, relationships, and resilience well into adulthood. Does therapy help with depression in teenagers? Yes. Does therapy help with anxiety in teenagers? Yes, that too!

What is a New and Promising Form of Therapy

The field of mental health is constantly evolving, with innovative therapies emerging that blend neuroscience, mindfulness, technology, and evidence-based practice. While traditional talk therapies remain highly effective, here are some new and promising forms of therapy gaining attention for their potential to transform mental health care:

1. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

Originally developed for trauma and PTSD, EMDR is now being applied to anxiety, depression, and phobias. It uses bilateral stimulation (like eye movements) to help the brain reprocess distressing memories, reducing emotional intensity and promoting healing.
Why it’s promising: Fast-acting for trauma, even when traditional talk therapy hasn’t worked.

2. Neurofeedback

This cutting-edge approach uses real-time brainwave data to help individuals learn how to regulate their own brain activity. It’s non-invasive and increasingly used for ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and sleep disorders.
Why it’s promising: It helps retrain the brain without medication by increasing awareness of internal states.

3. Virtual Reality (VR Therapy)

Virtual reality is being integrated into exposure approaches for phobias, PTSD, and social anxiety by simulating realistic environments in a controlled, safe space.
Why it’s promising: It provides immersive, customizable scenarios that make treatment more engaging and accessible.

4. Somatic Experiencing (SE)

This body-focused approach helps people release trauma stored in the nervous system by paying attention to physical sensations and movement. It’s especially helpful for trauma survivors who feel stuck in “fight, flight, or freeze.”
Why it’s promising: It bypasses language, helping those who struggle to articulate emotional pain.

5. Psychedelic-Assisted (in clinical trials and some legal contexts)

Therapies involving substances like psilocybin (magic mushrooms), MDMA, or ketamine—combined with psychotherapy—are showing powerful results in reducing treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and end-of-life anxiety.
Why it’s promising: Some patients experience rapid and lasting relief after just a few sessions under professional guidance.

6. Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS treats the mind as a system of “parts” (like the inner critic, wounded child, or protector). Instead of silencing these parts, IFS helps them collaborate and heal through a compassionate, self-led process.
Why it’s promising: It integrates mindfulness and trauma-informed care in a non-pathologizing way.

7. Mentalization-Based (MBT)

Originally designed for borderline personality disorder, MBT helps people better understand their own and others’ mental states. It’s increasingly used for relationship issues, attachment problems, and emotional dysregulation.
Why it’s promising: It strengthens emotional insight and improves interpersonal functioning.

These emerging therapies are opening doors for individuals who may not have responded to traditional methods or who are seeking more personalized, brain-body integrated care. While not all are widely available or suitable for everyone, they represent the future of mental health—more tailored, holistic, and innovative than ever before. If you’re curious about trying something new, contact me anytime. I try to stay up to date on these exciting developments, even those I do not offer.

What Kind of Therapists are There?

There are many different kinds of therapists, each with specialized training, techniques, and target populations. Here’s a breakdown of the most common types of therapists and what they do:

What Kind of Therapists are There: Credentials or Licensure

What Kind of Therapists are There: Therapeutic Modality or Approach

What Kind of Therapists are There: By Population or Specialty

What Kind of Therapists are There: Setting or Delivery

There are also closely aligned fields such as executive coaching and more general leadership coaching.

Final Thought

Bottom line: “Does therapy help?” Yes, and it can be life-changing. And if you’ve ever wondered, “Can therapy help me?” I encourage you to give it a try. Even one conversation with a supportive professional can open the door to relief, insight, and hope. Almost any form of therapy isn’t about being “broken”—it’s about being human. Whether in person or online, once a week or on your timeline, it is a powerful tool for growth, healing, and connection. You deserve support, and there is no shame in seeking it. Your future self may thank you for the courage to take this step.

If you’d like some help finding a good match, have additional questions, or would like to inquire about my services, please contact me or schedule a consultation anytime.

Dr. Alan Jacobson Founder and President

Dr. Jacobson is a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual, couples, and family therapy for over 20 years. He uses an integrative approach. choosing from a variety of proven and powerful therapeutic methods.

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