This is the most basic form of stress relief practised by both professional and non-professional alike. Here, the patient is encouraged to talk about his problems and anxieties to an individual who will be sympathetic and supportive. One does not have to be a psychiatrist to qualify as an audience of course. A tolerant friend may suffice, and for centuries the clergy filled this role, and many of them still do. However, the impersonality of the professional, his skilled prompting and therapeutic intent, give him a great advantage. A disadvantage is his costliness, but that reinforces the impersonality and also makes the process more purposeful for the patient. It gives the patient, to put it bluntly, a financial motive for recovery.

Sensitive physicians practise this form of supportive psychotherapy intuitively. The patient is made to fed that he it worthwhile, and that the doctor wants more than anything in the world to help him. As a result of his warm, friendly, positive attitude, the physician enables the patient to feel secure, accepted, protected, less anxious, and encouraged towards health. The aim is not to remake the personality but to help an individual over a rough spot in his life. Advice may be given about rest, exercise, diet, use of drugs, hobbies etc. Sympathetic counselling about dealing with practical issues is given. With reassurance and support, the doctor reinforces the patient’s defences against anxiety, emphasizes his capacity to get well, encourages self-esteem, and permits the patient to have a corrective emotional experience with someone who treats him differently from all other persons in his life.

This type of therapy is, of course, quite different from the analytic type practised by psychiatrists. The latter is aimed at uncovering unconscious material and allowing it to be aired, in the hope that a permanent change in personality can be effected. Analysis, which is in the realm of psychiatric treatment may, in severe cases, be required. It is interesting, however, to note that rashes of the type seen in neurodermatitis are a result of unresolved conflict. Whereas people with psychiatric diseases have virtually given up the struggle to resolve their conflicts, and therefore the incidence of stress-related skin diseases amongst such individuals is very small.

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