The introduction of psychopharmacology in Psychiatry revolutionized the field.

In 1953 with the discovery of chloropromazine psychiatrists managed to deal with psychosis’ that up to that point were dealt either with electroshock, psychosurgery or with long-term restraints (strait-jackets) and commitment to psychiatric clinics.

Since then psychopharmacology has made leaps in evolution. Over the last years, new molecules are discovered annually and are added to the enormous arsenal already in the disposal of the modern psychiatrist.

At the same time the demands of the relatives of the mental patient also increase. For a schizophrenic today not only is it considered unthinkable to be committed to a psychiatric clinic for several months, but it is also expected to be fully integrated in society.

For the mentally-ill integration in a working place and starting a family are feasible, under certain conditions.

What do we mean with the tem “Family Therapy”?
Usually when we talk about Therapy in Psychiatry we mean the individual that is in a difficult mental situation, that is to say he/she is disordered.
However when we are talking about family therapy we mean the situation in which there is an explicit difficulty in communication between its members.
Often this difficulty does not become conscious from its members, or they do not want to recognize it. Then usually one of the members of the familial system presents a symptom that mobilizes the family to find a solution.
This symptom presents itself in the emotionally weaker part of the familial system and can have multiple forms. For example he/she can present some kind of mental disorder, a psychosomatic illness or even develop an addiction to psychodrastic substances.

One of the first stages in the evolution of a Group Psychotherapy session is the cultivation and development of trust between the members.If this is achieved, the amount of help one can receive is enormous.

Characteristics cultivated in Group Psychotherapy include the innate human need to belong somewhere, e.g. in a Group.At the same time the individuality of each person is maintained.The ascertainment that the individual’s difficulties can have common characteristics with other members of the Group makes the burden surmountable.In the Group empathy* is cultivated, as well as development of socialization and the management of sentiments.

 Participation usually ranges between 5 and 10 individuals and sessions are held on weekly basis.

In today’s era increasingly more people turn to the psychotherapist for help and are mainly of a young age.The western way of life has played an important role in this, characterized by increased consumption and higher standards of living, missing however a parallel sentimental and psychological maturation of the individual.

Over the last years the crisis of values is becoming more obvious.Values that once were the basis of the traditional family have faded to an important degree, and in people's relations the “I have” dominates over the “I am”.As a consequence there is a crisis of identity of the modern person, in a world that continuously becomes more competitive and threatening.

In order for someone to survive in this world he needs:

1. To find out his own, new code of values, with equal intellectual values.
2. Develop skills essential for the survival in a competitive environment.
3. Familiarize himself in the recognition and management of his sentiments.
4. To nurture and develop self-esteem in continuous contact with reality.
5. Identification and usage of the “strong” aspects that parents and grandparents shared, as they constitute a part of each person’s heritage.
6. Grow empathy*, if we want to help build a Humane and promising world.

Psychotherapy has henceforth become a necessary requirement for today’s person providing quality of life and functioning as prevention in the field of mental and bodily health.

*Empathy: It is the deep communication with another via sentimental identification and comprehension.
More in Google: psychology and empathy - SCIPS

In this day and age the incidence of this disease has increased significantly and it is interrelated with our society’s modern way of life. Factors that influence the frequency of this disease in the present day are extreme competitiveness, the breakdown between human relations, which goes hand in hand with a concurrent increase in consumption, and the crisis of human values.

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Seeking help from a mental health expert, despite any good references that such a person may have, is not a simple matter. 
A person usually experiences such an impasse because of the “tortuous” condition in which he finds himself, which forces him to take the step of finding a therapist. He therefore starts with a compromise. The next compromise will become evident from the need to take some form of medication.

Most people have trouble recognizing when a manifestation can be regarded as healthy and when as “pathological”. A key factor is the degree of functionality of an individual at social level, family level and in his/her workplace.