Psychotherapy in psychiatry – reality, delusion or relic?

Abstract

‘If you talk about things you have not experienced, you are wasting your and other people’s time. As you continue the practice of looking deeply, you will see this more and more clearly, and you will save a lot of paper and publishing enterprises and have more time to enjoy your tea and live your daily life in mindfulness.’1 Psychotherapy has been viewed as a core clinical activity of psychiatrists.2-4 Is this still the case in our modern era, with more and more focus on pharmacotherapy? As we prepare for the Fellowship of the College of Psychiatrists of South Africa (FCPsych) to be the only exit examination to qualify as a psychiatrist in South Africa, it is prudent to reconsider this and related questions.