Counselling and Psychotherapy
Have you had an experience of a talking therapy?
Perhaps you found that although it was helpful there was too little time, and there was much that you were forced to leave unsaid?
One type of therapy does not suit everyone or every type of problem, and the differences between different therapies may not be very clear.
I am often asked:
"What's the difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy?"
Counselling
My approach is to offer Counselling as a short term focused intervention, which looks at current issues that are troubling you and helps you consider immediate life changes that will help you to resolve these difficulties. There may be some reference to past issues, but these are not the emphasis of the work. Counselling helps with issues that make day to day life hard e.g. work related stress, bereavement and loss, anxiety and panic, sleep disruption.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is also a brief focused intervention which was developed for people experiencing depression due to social or interpersonal problems. These may cluster around a big life change such as retirement or becoming parents for the first time, a dispute with another person, or a bereavement that has been difficult to recover from. It may be that for some people the problem is related to a feeling of social isolation, evoked and reinforced by the way they communicate. These problems have caused them to develop symptoms of depression. IPT is designed to help people act quickly to make changes that will ease or relive their depressive symptoms.
Integrative Psychotherapy
Integrative Psychotherapy begins by helping you to address issues or relationships that are making life difficult just now, but you will be encouraged to explore past life events in more detail, so that you can understand what has caused you to find yourself in the same old place again and again. It will usually take longer, but it can provide you with the information you need to change your life. Integrative Psychotherapy helps when you feel you have lost your way, helps you explore repeated patterns in relationships or difficulties in life, when you feel stuck or may be unsure of who you are. It will help you recognise how your past experiences are influencing your life today; identify what you want to change and decide how you want to do this.
I offer a confidential setting in which you will be heard, offering the empathy and respect you need to express your thoughts and feelings.
I also have a range of creative media available should you want help you express yourself, or for times when you cannot put things into words.
The aim of both counselling and psychotherapy is to give you space and time with a neutral person who can help you to explore thoughts, feelings and beliefs related to your current or historical experiences. You are encouraged to reflect on what is happening to you from different perspectives, and to manage the challenges of life differently.
