Before we get into the nitty-gritty of therapy, why don't we backtrack and learn a little more about the practice and what it's all about?

Simply put, therapy uses the science of psychology. According to the dictionary, psychology is the "science of the mind or of mental states and processes." The field of psychology began in the late 1800s when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology laboratory in Germany.

The laboratory was used to conduct a number of experiments, and one of the first subjects Wundt studied was the senses (in particular, how people reacted to sensations, especially of the visual kind). It is for this reason that Wundt is considered the "father of psychology."

At the same time, an Austrian scientist named Sigmund Freud was making his own waves in this new field. Though Freud had no formal training, he quickly paved a way by introducing psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is what usually comes to mind when you think about therapy. It's someone in a comfortable position freely speaking about anything that comes to mind. Freud mainly focused on sexuality, dreams and repression (the avoidance of specific past experiences). While opinions on Freud vary--including charges of sexism--psychoanalysis is still widely used today.

The next major breakthrough in the field of psychology was behaviorism, which took root during the early-to-mid 20th century. The thinking behind behaviorism was that psychology should be more of a study of behavior and less of the mind.

This is where the roots of cognitive behavioral therapy grew from (you'll learn about that in a bit). Scientists in this field felt that by studying a person's behavior and monitoring it, you could work with the individual to change the behavior--and the thoughts connected with the behavior.

The most recent incarnation of psychology has been neuropsychology. With all the new technology, researchers are now looking to study the brain even more, as well as the connection people make between thoughts and actions. These scientists also look to people with brain injuries or serious illnesses and try to find how people function (and view the world) differently when trauma occurs.

Whew! That was a lot of stuff, but those discoveries within the field of psychology are what a lot of therapists base their methods off of. Read on to learn more about the types of therapy available to you.