Psychotherapy for mental illness

Psychotherapy is form of "talking therapy" treatment for mental disorders, and not a treatment used to treat myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, or any other physical illnesses. Psychotherapists are trained in the working of the mind, and do not have medical training. (Psychiatrists are medical doctors trained in mental illness, and prescribe psychiatric medications or treatments).

Purpose
Psychotherapy is designed to treat mental illness, whether they impact or occur in people with physical illnesses or not.

A person with ME/CFS might see a psychotherapist to treat either a pre-existing mental disorder, or one caused as a reaction to the effects of living with ME/CFS, for example:
 * serious phobia
 * depression resulting from a bereavement
 * reactive depression, which is depression resulting from the effects of an illness, such as the loss of friends or career
 * post-traumatic stress disorder due to abuse from medical professionals, childhood abuse, and car accident or another psychological trauma

Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of talking therapy that was developed initially to treat depression, then later models were developed for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses. CBT is an extremely popular form of therapy that can be delivered in either psychotherapy or counseling.

CBT for ME/CFS
Cognitive behavioral therapy has also been developed for ME/CFS based on a highly controversial biopsychosocial model of ME/CFS that does not accept that it has an underlying disease process, and views psychological factors such as fear of exercise as a key part of the disease, something which has been found to be incorrect. This form of CBT aims to cure or significantly improve physical symptoms through encouraging the person to change their thoughts and behaviors. In this model of CBT the person assumed to have an "unhelpful" (irrational) beliefs that exercise is harmful or to be engaging in a viscous circle of thoughts and behaviors that make the illness worse. This extremely controversial model of CBT, which is typically delivered by nurses, occupational therapists and sometimes counselors, was abandoned by the CDC in 2017, and by the UK's NHS guidelines in 2021 due to the evidence that is was ineffective and often harmful,