What does "psychotherapy" mean?

The treatment of people diagnosed with mental and emotional disorders using dialogue and a variety of psychological techniques.

How do you pronounce "psychotherapy"?

Pronounced //ˌsaɪkoʊˈθɛɹəpi//.

Common synonyms include: arica movement, assertiveness training, behavior modification, behavior therapy, bioenergetics, biofeedback.

//ˌsaɪkoʊˈθɛɹəpi// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
The treatment of people diagnosed with mental and emotional disorders using dialogue and a variety of psychological techniques. countable, uncountable
"In the future, he says, a focus on the hate circuit may open new avenues for treatment – including new drugs and psychotherapies – that target this and other specific circuits in the brain."
2
the treatment of mental or emotional problems by psychological means wordnet
3
the branch of psychiatry concerned with psychological methods wordnet

"The show's about a New Jersey mob boss who's in psychotherapy."

From psycho- + therapy.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.