The goal of all therapy is to help people change maladaptive thinking, feeling, and behavioral patterns. Categories of professional counselors and therapists include clinical and counseling psychologists, psychiatric social workers, marriage and family counselors, pastoral counselors, and abuse counselors. Therapeutic techniques vary widely and depend on the theories that therapists use to understand psychological disorders.

Psychoanalysis originated in Freud's psychodynamic theory, and its purpose is to help clients achieve insight, the conscious awareness of the psychodynamics that underlie problems. Freudian psychoanalysts use free association techniques and dream interpretation in therapy. Clients may experience resistance to dealing with unconscious conflicts, but eventually will transfer the conflicts associated in dealing with others to the therapist. Psychoanalytic therapists provide interpretation to the clients in an effort to help them achieve insight. Brief psychodynamic and interpersonal therapies utilize basic concepts from psychoanalysis, but conversation between therapist and client typically replaces free association, and therapy sessions are more frequently than in traditional psychoanalysis.

In client-centered therapy, developed by humanistic theorist Carl Rogers, the therapist's task is to provide the client with unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness. Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls, is another humanistic approach. Gestalt therapy is often carried out in groups, and typically encourages clients to conclude "unfinished business" with significant others by holding imaginary conversations with them.

Cognitive therapies focus on changing maladaptive ways of thinking about oneself and the world. Ellis' rational-emotive therapy stresses the roles of activating events, belief systems, emotional and behavioral consequences of appraisal in the development of psychological disorders and the importance of disputing, or challenging, erroneous beliefs in treatment. Similarly, Beck's cognitive therapy is designed to help clients point out logical errors in "automatic" thinking that underlie disturbances such as mood disorders.

Behavior therapies use basic principles of classical and operant conditioning in therapy. For example, exposure therapy is an extinction procedure using response prevention to eliminate anxiety responses. Systematic desensitization is a learning-based technique for treating anxiety disorders that uses counter-conditioning. Aversion therapy is used to reduce deviant approach behaviors. Behavior modification techniques such as the use of positive reinforcement and punishment can also be used in therapy. The modeling of social skills can be used to help people to function effectively in society.

To an increasing extent, therapists are becoming eclectic in their use of treatments and theoretical orientations to help people in therapy. In some cases, the family rather than the individual is treated because of the importance of family dynamics in the development of some disorders. Marital therapy focus on communication, understanding needs, and problem-solving skills. A recent addition to marital therapy is a focus on acceptance of the partner.

Cultural factors play a number of roles in the use of psychotherapy. Cultural norms can affect the likelihood of turning to professionals in time of need. A lack of access to services and a lack of skilled counselors who can provide culturally responsive forms of treatment can hinder people in getting treatment. To be culturally competent, a therapist must be able to use knowledge about the client's culture to achieve a broad understanding of the client, and at the same time be attentive to how the client may differ from the cultural stereotype. Similarly, male therapists who treat women clients need to be aware of issues and social realities that women face.

In evaluating psychotherapies, researchers use the specificity question: "Which types of therapy, administered by which types of therapists to which types of clients having which kinds of problems, produce which kinds of effects?" This question stresses the interactions between all variables in producing successful therapy. Randomized clinical trials and placebo control groups are considered critical for good research into the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Meta-analyses are used to combine the results of many studies. In a Consumer Reports survey, respondents reported significant improvement as a result of therapy and a high level of satisfaction with therapists.

Medicine offers a range of pharmaceuticals to treat psychological disorders. Antianxiety or tranquilizing drugs such as Valium and Xanax are widely used. Antidepressant drugs fall into three major categories: tricyclics, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, and SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Antipsychotic drugs, or major tranquilizers, can reduce the need for hospitalization or increase a patient's comfort while hospitalized. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a controversial technique used for treating cases of major depression that do not respond to other treatments. Psychosurgery, a treatment of last resort, refers to surgical procedures such as lobotomy that remove or destroy brain tissue.

The United States began building state-funded mental hospitals in the 1840s, and by 1955 half of all U.S. hospital beds were occupied by psychiatric patients. A deinstitutionalization movement began in the 1960s to transfer the primary focus of treatment from the hospital to the community. Unfortunately, many patients have been released into communities that are unable to care for them, resulting in an increase in the homeless population and a "revolving door" phenomenon of repeated hospitalizations and releases. Another factor that has contributed to inadequate mental health treatment is managed care; although it has had positive effects in spurring research on the effectiveness of psychotherapies, it typically underestimates the amount of therapy needed to deal with various disorders. Preventive mental health programs utilize both situation-focused prevention, which is directed at reducing or preventing environmental causes of disorders; and on competency-focused prevention, which is designed to increase personal resources and coping skills.