What is talking therapy?
Talking therapy involves talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Describing what’s going on in your head and how that makes you feel can help you notice any patterns you may want to change. It can help you work out where your negative feelings and ideas come from and why they are there. Therapy can offer you the understanding all this can help you make positive changes, take greater control of your life and improve your confidence.
How will therapy make me feel?
Therapy is a personal process. Sometimes it is necessary to talk about painful feelings or difficult decisions, so you may go through a period of feeling worse than when you started. However, therapy should enable you to feel better in the long-run. Talking therapy has begun to shed its stigma, as more and more people engage in conversation about how therapy has helped them. There isn’t an exact list of issues that need to be ticked in order to seek support; there are many relevant reasons to find a therapist, all equally valid and important.However, often the myth that you have to feel terrible and reach crisis point in order to benefit from therapy still persists. Unfortunately, this means that many of us miss out on the help we could use to transform our lives for the better. Studies have shown that many of us only get treatment for our mental health when at crisis point. In the same way that treating cancer early is more effective, finding the help you need quickly is crucially important to effectively treat mental health issues before they become more serious.
Talking therapy and the young person
Counselling and therapy (sometimes called ‘psychotherapy’) are both types of talking therapy that involve talking about – or exploring feelings, thoughts and experiences. This can help the young person make sense of what’s going on in their life and find ways of coping when things are difficult. If your child is struggling, it can be really difficult and worrying as a parent – and it might feel like a big step to decide to reach out to a counsellor or therapist. Parents tell me that when they were in this situation, they worried about whether they had done something wrong, or whether their child’s therapist would blame them. In fact, lots young people go to counselling or therapy at some point, and for all sorts of reasons – and a counsellor or therapist should work with you supportively to think about what’s going on and how you can makes things better.
I identified with a number of therapies I am specifically trained in to offer my patients:
Cognitive–behavioural therapies:
I have found that I can most effectively meet my patients’ needs by employing a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy, attachment theory and psychodynamic modalities. Conceptually, I understand patients from developmental and internal family systems perspectives, and I integrate these considerations into the work of therapy.
Talking therapy involves talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Describing what’s going on in your head and how that makes you feel can help you notice any patterns you may want to change. It can help you work out where your negative feelings and ideas come from and why they are there. Therapy can offer you the understanding all this can help you make positive changes, take greater control of your life and improve your confidence.
How will therapy make me feel?
Therapy is a personal process. Sometimes it is necessary to talk about painful feelings or difficult decisions, so you may go through a period of feeling worse than when you started. However, therapy should enable you to feel better in the long-run. Talking therapy has begun to shed its stigma, as more and more people engage in conversation about how therapy has helped them. There isn’t an exact list of issues that need to be ticked in order to seek support; there are many relevant reasons to find a therapist, all equally valid and important.However, often the myth that you have to feel terrible and reach crisis point in order to benefit from therapy still persists. Unfortunately, this means that many of us miss out on the help we could use to transform our lives for the better. Studies have shown that many of us only get treatment for our mental health when at crisis point. In the same way that treating cancer early is more effective, finding the help you need quickly is crucially important to effectively treat mental health issues before they become more serious.
Talking therapy and the young person
Counselling and therapy (sometimes called ‘psychotherapy’) are both types of talking therapy that involve talking about – or exploring feelings, thoughts and experiences. This can help the young person make sense of what’s going on in their life and find ways of coping when things are difficult. If your child is struggling, it can be really difficult and worrying as a parent – and it might feel like a big step to decide to reach out to a counsellor or therapist. Parents tell me that when they were in this situation, they worried about whether they had done something wrong, or whether their child’s therapist would blame them. In fact, lots young people go to counselling or therapy at some point, and for all sorts of reasons – and a counsellor or therapist should work with you supportively to think about what’s going on and how you can makes things better.
I identified with a number of therapies I am specifically trained in to offer my patients:
Cognitive–behavioural therapies:
- Cognitive–Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Behavioural Therapies
- Modelling and skills training
- Attachment-orientated interventions
- Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT)
- Parenting interventions
- Systemic Family Therapy (FT)
- Transtheoretical intervention
- Family-based programme.
- Psychoeducation
I have found that I can most effectively meet my patients’ needs by employing a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy, attachment theory and psychodynamic modalities. Conceptually, I understand patients from developmental and internal family systems perspectives, and I integrate these considerations into the work of therapy.