Sandplay therapy, one of ways for psychological counseling, is a kind of projective media therapy tool, which could reflect the patients’ inner world in a non-verbal form. Persisted sandplay therapy can smooth the psychological trauma, but also promote spiritual growth of patients. After the development for over one hundred years, sandplay has been spread around the world widely as a good psychological therapy for patients with good clinical efficacy. Sandplay therapy is mainly used to treat psychological problems of children and adolescents at the beginning, and then gradually applied to treat various psychological diseases of adults, with the development of various treatments such as couple, family, and group treatment. Sandplay therapy is usually used in the treatment of children's emotional disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, and adult depression, anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder, drug and alcohol dependence, and even physical diseases. This review will introduce the application and efficacy of sandplay therapy in the treatment of various mental disorders in recent 3-5 years. Key words: Sandplay therapy; Psychotherapeutic technique; Efficacy of therapy; Current situation research

The evidence base for the effectiveness of body psychotherapy (BPT) in the treatment of severe mental disorders has improved much over the last decade; both methodologically robust randomised controlled trials and also qualitative studies demonstrated how BPT can contribute substantially to the treatment portfolio and help address chronic conditions and disorder-specific psychopathology. This paper summarises how BPT is utilised for the treating a range of severe mental disorders including mania and schizophreniform psychosis, personality disorder and severe anxiety as well as depressive disorders. The intervention strategies are related to specific body-oriented phenomena, i.e. disturbances of body experience and body-mind regulation disorders; the approaches are described in the context of a new theoretical paradigm of BPT as embodied and embedded relational psychotherapy, aiming to facilitate improved self/affect regulation. For each specific illness, a short sketch of the cardinal symptoms and body image phenomenology is followed by a summary of disorder-specific intervention strategies of BPT for severe mental illness.

A contemporary perspective on psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy views both treatments as somatic in nature. Abandoning Cartesian dualism frees the clinician to consider therapeutic options based on the best available evidence rather than falsely dichotomizing approaches as biological or psychological. Evidence-based medicine is a helpful though limited paradigm upon which to base treatment decisions. Instead, clinicians should strive for an evidence-informed approach that is patient centered. This approach is illustrated in relation to depressive illness where moderators of outcome are examined (illness severity, history of trauma, personality disorders, patient preference) that will influence clinical recommendations on combining treatment. Psychotherapy is increasingly proving to be a valuable therapeutic modality across the severity spectrum, a finding at odds with current treatment practices.

Major depressive disorder is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition in youth, so developing efficient treatments is a priority for mental health professionals. Psychotherapy (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy/CBT), pharmacotherapy (i.e., SSRI medication), and their combination have been shown to be effective in treating youth depression; however, the results are still mixed and there are few studies engaging multi-level analyses (i.e., subjective, cognitive, and biological). Therefore, the aims of this randomized control study (RCT) were both theoretical - integrating psychological and biological markers of depression in a multi-level outcome analysis - and practical – testing the generalizability of previous results on depressed Romanian youth population. Eighty-eight (N=88) depressed Romanian youths were randomly allocated to one of the three treatment arms: group Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)/CBT (i.e., a form of CBT), pharmacotherapy (i.e., sertraline), and group REBT/CBT plus pharmacotherapy. The results showed that all outcomes (i.e., subjective, cognitive, and biological) significantly change from pre to post-treatment under all treatment conditions at a similar rate and there were no significant differences among conditions at post-test. In case of categorical analysis of the clinical response rate, we found a non-significant trend favoring group REBT/CBT therapy. Results of analyses concerning outcome interrelations are discussed.

People believe that treatments for illnesses are effective when they target the cause of the illness. Prior work suggests that biological essentialist explanations of mental illness lead people to prefer medications or other pharmacological treatments. However, prior work has not distinguished between biological and essentialist explanations. In three studies (total n = 517), we presented adults with vignettes about an individual with an artificial mental illness and manipulated the descriptions to emphasize or de-emphasize essentialist characteristics. Critically, none of the vignettes made reference to a biological basis for the disorder. Participants rated their willingness to interact with the person described in the vignettes and how effective they believed drug treatment and talk therapy would be on the mental illness. Across the three studies, describing mental illness with an essentialist framing led participants to think drug treatments would be more effective, but there was no effect for stigma or perceived effectiveness of talk therapy. This effect appears to be mediated by how much participants essentialized individuals with the disorder. The first framing that participants encountered seemed to shape their reasoning for the remainder of the study, even if they saw conflicting framing later on. The framing manipulation had similar effects for individuals with and without a mental illness. Results suggest that it is important to consider how mental illness is framed to the general public as it might impact people's treatment preferences.

The term Mental illness comprises of variety of mental health conditions. It involves significant changes in thinking (such as abnormal thoughts), feeling or emotions, behaviour and relationships with others. Mental health conditions are associated with distress and or disability in social, work, or family activities. Some of them are schizophrenia, depression, intellectual disabilities and disorders due to drug abuse. Most of the Mental health problems can be successfully treated by the talk therapy or medication.

Pregnancy is a major life change for many women. The related biological changes, especially complications in its course and in the course of delivery, carry a risk of developing a variety of psychological problems and mental disorders. However, their treatment is challenging due to the teratogenic effects of most psychoactive drugs and specific requirements for entering different psychotherapeutic programs. Mental disorders during pregnancy are undoubtedly an important issue for both gynecology and psychiatry. There is still a discussion considering the question whether psychotherapy during pregnancy is safe, although no scientifically valid data contradicting the safety of psychotherapy during pregnancy has been published so far. Together with psychotherapy - as a treatment of choice - clinicians approve some other relatively safe treatment methods for psychiatric disorders in pregnant women. Light therapy, limited pharmacotherapy, ECT are included. The goal of this paper is to review current opinions of clinicians and researches concerning possibilities, indications and outcome of psychological treatments as a way to help pregnant women who suffer from different psychiatric conditions, and also because this subject is not yet present in Polish psychiatric journals.

Effective treatment of major mental illness in children, adolescents and adults poses a continuing challenge to psychiatry, and unaddressed childhood trauma plays an important role in this challenge. The aim of this communication is based on an earlier paper, is to highlight research that has been carried out on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and major mental illness, and the emphasis placed on treatment of mental illness almost exclusively with pharmacotherapy while paying lip-service to psychological therapies, including dynamic psychotherapy. This is in spite of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) Studies of 1998 and 2010, which demonstrate links between childhood trauma and mental illness. I have chosen to use depression as an example because of its common occurrence, increasing morbidity and cost to services globally.

To investigate the effect of drug treatment combined with psychological intervention on mental disorders in patients with persistent moderate-severe allergic rhinitis. Sixty patients with persistent moderate-severe allergic rhinitis who met the criteria were randomly divided into 2 groups: control group and experimental group. The control group was only given medication, whereas the experimental group was given psychological intervention on the basis of the same medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy was used for psychological intervention. After 12 weeks of treatment, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ) were used to evaluate the changes in anxiety, depression, and quality of life before and after treatment. The SAS and SDS scores of the control group after treatment were lower than those before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant. Similarly, the SAS and SDS scores of the experimental group after treatment were lower than those before treatment with statistically significant difference. In addition, after treatment, the SAS and SDS scores of the experimental group were statistically lower than those of the control group. The results of RQLQ showed that the scores of each dimension in the control group after treatment were lower than those before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant. Similar results were found in the experimental group. After treatment with these 2 different schemes, the RQLQ scores of sleep, nonnasal/eye symptoms, and emotion in the experimental group were statistically lower than those in the control group. Drug therapy or drug therapy combined with psychological intervention can alleviate anxiety and depression of patients with persistent moderate-severe allergic rhinitis and improve their quality of life. Moreover, based on the effect of improving mental disorder and quality of life of patients, drug therapy combined with psychological intervention is better than drug treatment alone.

This paper is a comprehensive review of the historical and conceptual development of psychotherapy, highlighting its evolution from a predominantly biological approach to a more integrative one that includes psychological and therapeutic methods. Psychotherapy, derived from the Greek roots "psyche" (mind) and "therapeia" (treatment), focuses on the treatment of mental and emotional problems through various psychological techniques. Originating from different psychological theories, psychotherapy has evolved into a diversified field with multiple approaches, including biological, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic-existentialist. The history of mental health treatments is addressed, from ancient practices based on magic and bodily moods to the development of more modern techniques such as animal magnetism, hypnosis, and behavioral therapy. The contemporary approach to psychotherapy recognizes the importance of cognitions and metacognitions in mental health. Third-generation therapies, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, emphasize the importance of context and adaptability in the treatment of mental disorders.