Massage therapy may affect anxiety and tension by increasing lymph flow through the reduction of blood pressure and increased blood flow, thus improving muscle tone and mental relaxation.

An important aspect of the nurse practitioner role encompasses the moral duties, obligations, and responsibility of being a leader in health care. Ethical principles that provide the foundation and direction for true leadership include the following:
* Justice: Doing what is fair
* Veracity: Telling the truth
* Respect: Treating everyone with equal dignity
* Fidelity: Being true and loyal

Dialectical behavior therapy expands on the behavioral activation principles of CBT to increase distress tolerance, improve emotional regulation, and promote mindfulness.
CBT is a foundational piece of DBT but focuses on present events and current maladaptive responses to those events. Psychoanalytic theory and therapy work on uncovering childhood influences on behavior and subconscious motivations. Existential therapy focuses on accepting reality and making responsible decisions.

Because medications alone do not treat a person's environmental or interpersonal stressors and their responses to stressors, an integrated approach is the most beneficial in treating mental illness.
The most common reasons patients seek individual psychotherapy are as follows:
* Loss
* Interpersonal conflict
* Symptomatic presentations such as panic, anxiety, phobias, and negativity
* Unfulfilled expectations and life transitions
* Character issues such as narcissism or aggressiveness

Transference is a phenomenon in which a patient's feelings and attitudes toward another are unconsciously transferred onto the therapist. This may include feelings of love, hate, anger, or mistrust. Transference is often seen in patients with a history of trauma or interpersonal difficulties, as they may have unresolved feelings toward significant others in their lives.
Countertransference is when a therapist unconsciously transfers their feelings and attitudes onto the patient. Projection is when the patient unconsciously attributes their feelings or attitudes to someone else. Splitting is a defense mechanism in which the patient views people and situations as all good or all bad and may have difficulty integrating both positive and negative aspects of a person or situation.