A look at therapies
These are a few descriptions of some of the more mainstream therapies available. As with the terminology section, if you would like to know about any other therapies, please let me know and I will add them.
Counselling
Counselling is a type of talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment. A counsellor is trained to listen with empathy (by putting themselves in your shoes). They can help you deal with any negative thoughts and feelings you have.
Sometimes the term "counselling" is used to refer to talking therapies in general, but counselling is also a type of therapy in its own right. Examples of other psychological therapies include psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and relationship therapy, which could be between members of a family, a couple, or work colleagues.
Counselling aims to help you deal with and overcome issues that are causing emotional pain or making you feel uncomfortable. It can provide a safe and regular space for you to talk and explore difficult feelings. The counsellor is there to support you and respect your views. They won't usually give advice, but will help you find your own insights into and understanding of your problems.
Counselling can often involve talking about difficult or painful feelings and, as you begin to face them, you may feel worse in some ways. However, with the help and support of your therapist, you should gradually start to feel better.
In most cases, it takes a number of sessions before the counselling starts to make a difference, and a regular commitment is required to make the best use of the therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy is a talking therapy that helps you understand the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. This allows you to manage your problems by helping you change the way you think and behave.
CBT doesn't remove your problems, but helps you manage them in a more effective way. It encourages you to examine how your actions and thoughts can affect how you feel. It is based on the idea that the way you think about a situation affects how you feel and act. In turn, your actions influence the way you think and feel. It is therefore necessary to change both thinking (cognition) and action (behaviour) at the same time.
CBT is an active therapy, and you'll be expected to work on your problems between sessions, trying out different ways of thinking and acting, as agreed with your therapist. The aim is for you to develop the skills to become your own therapist.
Existential therapy
Existential therapy focuses on each person as a unique individual as well as the choices that shape their life. The therapist empowers the patient to take responsibility for their decisions and create the present and future they desire. Depending on the therapist, techniques may pull from cognitive behavioural, Freudian, Jungian, Gestalt or other therapeutic approaches.
Like other forms of psychotherapy, existential therapy can help alleviate anxiety, shame, guilt and other difficult emotions through honest self-evaluation. At the same time, this approach candidly confronts the realities of life such as death, meaninglessness, loss and suffering and works to promote positive experiences, relationships and emotions. More specifically, existential therapy encourages people to:
- Evaluate their values, beliefs and situation
- Acknowledge their limitations as well as the possibilities for their lives
- Find meaning and purpose in their lives
- Develop more effective ways of communicating
Person Centred Therapy.
Also known as person-centred counselling or client-centred counselling. It was devised by Carl Rogers, an American psychologist who in the 1950’s proposed a form of therapy which focussed on the client’s experience of themselves, as opposed to the counsellor being an expert and telling them what to do, or what was wrong with them.
The therapy relied on the quality of the relationship between the counsellor and the client. This is sometimes called a ‘way of being’, with the counsellor demonstrating what is known as the Core Conditions which form the basis of the relationship between the counsellor and the client.
The Core Conditions:
- Empathy (the counsellor trying to understand the client’s point of view)
- Congruence (the counsellor being a genuine person)
- Unconditional Positive Regard (the counsellor being non-judgemental)
Person Centred therapy harnesses the client’s natural self-healing process, and given the right relationship with the therapist, clients can decide what they want to do with their lives. To this end, person centred therapy is a personal growth model also known as non-directive therapy, the client is not taught the model of therapy or undertake homework.