A Brief Guide to the Varieties of Psychological Help that are Generally Available

Psychological practitioners can be divided into the following three categories.

Psychiatrists are qualified medical doctors. They tend to deal with severe breakdowns, work in hospitals and treat problems with medication.

Psychologists have a degree in psychology and are trained to assess (through questionnaires and so forth) mental health difficulties. Depending on the school they belong to, they can use any number of methods for the treatment, from behavioural to talking therapies.

However, it should be noted that some psychiatrists and psychologists have also trained (and practice) as psychotherapists.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors: It takes about two years (part time) to train as a counsellor. Psychotherapy trainings tend to be of a longer duration – three to five years. Very broadly, counselling focuses on a specific issue and often, is time limited (anything from 3 to 40 sessions say). Meanwhile psychotherapy seeks to address the deeper issues that lie behind the presented difficulties and issues; this work is long term and open ended.

Having said this, some would argue that there is no difference between psychotherapy and counselling.

There are many kinds of ‘therapy’: behavioural correction, medication, positive thinking, hypno-therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, and so on. We offer psychotherapy.

The kinds of psychotherapy generally on offer can broadly be divided into three:

Behaviourists work more directly with the symptoms (say, stress), and use mental techniques and exercises – CBT is currently the most popular form being used in the NHS. This work tends to be symptom focussed and time limited.

Psychoanalysis (sometimes called a talking therapy) is a long term, very intense form of treatment, from three to five sessions a week. The analyst does not offer advice or make suggestions, instead, s/he analyses not only what the patient says but also what occurs in the relationship between them.

The Humanistic schools (these include Gestalt, Rogerian client centred practice, Existentialism, Transactional Analysis, Bioenergetics, and many others) tend to follow a client centred ethos. Although they aspire not to give advice or lead the client, in some forms of practice the therapists can be fairly directive using structures and exercises to direct clients towards a particular goal.

We offer psychodynamic psychotherapy which draws its inspiration from the psychoanalytic and group analytic traditions. However, it also takes account of insights derived from some of the humanistic traditions.

One’s difficulties and symptoms often arise as a response to problematic situations that one has had to cope with in one’s childhood as well as in adulthood. On the one hand these habituated beliefs (e.g. I am no good) and symptoms (e.g. I get very anxious when I speak to my boss) are ways of coping with the original difficulties, and on the other hand these ‘solutions’ make it more difficult to live a more fulfilled life in the present.

The therapy offers a safe place where one can become more aware of the conscious and unconscious processes that are behind many of our beliefs, thoughts and feelings. The therapy process works towards understanding how and why these symptoms and beliefs come to be there by locating them one’s life history and life context.

Particular attention is given to the developing therapeutic relationship, as it becomes a space in which these processes can be explored and engaged with.

Through greater understanding, self-knowledge and a growing acceptance of oneself, change becomes more possible. This ultimately leads to the possibility of living a more fulfilling and fulfilled life.