Post an explanation of whether psychotherapy has a biological basis. Explain how culture, religion, and socioeconomics might influence one’s perspective of the value of psychotherapy treatments.

Post an explanation of whether psychotherapy has a biological basis. Explain how culture, religion, and socioeconomics might influence one’s perspective of the value of psychotherapy treatments.

Influences of Culture, Religion, and Socioeconomics on Personal Perspectives of Psychotherapy Treatments

Religion and culture impact an individual’s perspective on psychotherapy in different ways. For instance, an extremely religious person may prefer to seek spiritual intervention, for example, prayers for healing instead of seeking psychotherapy. Individuals may also use religion as coping mechanisms instead of seeking psychotherapy. For example, a study conducted by Agorastos et al (2014) Discussion: Does Psychotherapy Have a Biological Basis? indicated that individuals may use religiosity and spirituality to ease grieving after the death of a loved one. Therefore, an individual’s perspective regarding   psychotherapy can be influenced by religious beliefs.

Culture also influences an individual’s perspective regarding psychotherapy. Some cultures view psychotherapy as not appropriate and this influences an individual’s perspective on psychotherapy (Choudhry et al, 2016)Discussion: Does Psychotherapy Have a Biological Basis?. For example, in the Czech Republic, psychotherapy is perceived as not okay when compared to pharmacotherapy. The culture supports taking pills than attending therapy sessions where those attending psychotherapy are sometimes stigmatized (Kuska et al, 2016).  This, therefore, indicates that culture influences how an individual views psychotherapy because in some cultures attending psychotherapy sessions is very appropriate.

Finally, socioeconomic status also influences an individual’s perspective on psychotherapy. At times a complete psychotherapy can be relatively costly and hence people from low socioeconomic status may not afford this form of treatment and may prefer other forms of treatments. Similarly, those who can afford psychotherapy sessions may view it as an effective option and faithfully attend the sessions (Cummings, 2014) Discussion: Does Psychotherapy Have a Biological Basis?.

References

Agorastos A, Demiralay C & Huber C. (2014). Influence of religious aspects and personal beliefs on psychological behavior: focus on anxiety disorders, Psychol Res Behav Manag. 1(7), 93–101.

Choudhry F, Mani V, Ming L & Khan T. (2016). Beliefs and perception about mental health issues: a meta-synthesis. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 1(12): 2807–2818.