Biological mechanisms in the psychotherapy of depression

The question concerning biological changes during psychotherapy can be appr oached in the context of depressive disorders. In this sphere several clear ly defined specific treatments are available with broad evidence for their effectiveness. Furthermore, detailed theories about the biological mechanis ms in the context of depression are available. Important impulses for the u nderstanding of the question focussed by this article were iniated by the r esearch on placebos. Based on the evidence supplied by this research, the q uestion can be discussed whether psychotherapy should be considered as a tr igger for the self-healing tendencies of an organism.