Historically, the relationship between psychotherapy and psychiatry has not always had a positive coexistence in terms of monitoring and treatment of mental health problems, although in recent years this difficulty has decreased. Nowadays, the accompaniment of both professions in a process that implies both a neurochemical imbalance and a cognitive difficulty in emotional fields and human dynamics is considered a comprehensive approach.

The treatment of mental disorders has evolved considerably in recent years with the advent of drugs and now new options in neuromodulation, such as Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Despite this, psychotherapy has always played a very important role in accompanying the patient with different emotional or adaptive pictures and in the same way it has been growing towards new techniques and forms of accompaniment both for the person who consults or their relatives.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), psychotherapy is “a collaborative treatment based on a relationship between an individual and a psychologist. The Psychologist provides support that allows the person to speak openly with someone who is objective, neutral and non-judgmental. Most therapies are individual, although some psychotherapists also work with couples, families, and groups.

Glen O. Gabbard is a well-known psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in both the medical and psychoanalytic communities, with multiple publications throughout his career and the author of several works focused on the psychotherapeutic and psychiatric approach from clinical practice. In a study published by the International Journal of Psychiatry in 2007, he stated that the swing of the pendulum towards a more biological direction in psychiatry has led to the marginalization of psychotherapy as one within the discipline of psychiatry as a whole. However, psychotherapy is a very important basic science with application in many clinical scenarios, playing a fundamental role in the prognostic value of the patient.

Both psychiatry and psychotherapy have a biological context that produces changes in the brain, and is therefore as important a companion as pharmacotherapy in planning comprehensive treatment.

In fact, the combination of medication, neuromodulation and psychotherapy have become a common method for psychiatric treatment in current clinical practice.

Psychotherapy therefore has an essential role in the context of clinical practice, for which psychological help and psychiatric monitoring can represent a better prognostic value when it comes to treatment and monitoring of conditions associated with mental health.