At their most simple, psychotherapy and counselling seek to relieve emotional distress and promote personal growth through a relationship between the client and a  therapist who is trained to listen empathically and suggest connections and paterns that we find difficult to make or see ourselves.    

 

 

It is a joint project lead by the client but guided by the therapist.

 

What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?

 

There is no universally agreed definition of psychotherapy or counselling. In broad terms counselling is considered to be shorter term and more focused on a particular life issue. Psychotherapy is often viewed as longer term work to address more fundamental issues of how it is to be in the world.

 

I see them as part of a continuum.

 

If you want a sounding board to help you make sense of your situation and make better choices in life, a few sessions can make a big difference.

If you want to look more deeply at how you come to be as you are and to change how you feel about yourself and the world, the work can take some months.

 

How can I learn more about psychotherapy and counselling?

 

The very best way to learn about counselling and psychotherapy is to meet with a well trained and professionally qualified therapist.

 

Naturally, I would be happy if you chose to see me.

 

 

 

How do I choose a counsellor or psychotherapist?

 

Similarly, the best way to choose a psychotherapist is to meet with one and see how it is for you.

 

However I feel it is important that you make a positive choice and I encourage you to look at what is available.

 

BACP and UKCP, the two principle organisations for the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy in the UK both have "Find a Therapist"   buttons with search engines which will find an appropriate therapist near you. 

 

A similar service can be found at the commercial sites Counselling-Directory.org.uk which focuses on counselling and psychotherapy and GoToSee.co.uk which offers a much broader range of therapies. Pink Therapy is a good site for LGBT resources.

 

There are many organisations in London that offer psychotherapy and counselling to people from a range of ethnic, cultural and faith backgrounds, but few seem to be nationwide. If you know of good specialist resources in The Midlands, I would be very grateful if you could e-mail me their contact details.

 

 

Where I can read more about psychotherapy and counselling?

 

The Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy has a good description of the type of psychotherapy I practice, or you could go How I Work on this website.

 

There is a very good introductory description of psychotherapy and counselling under the Counselling tab on the Counselling-Directory website.

 

There are more detailed descriptions of the different kinds or "modalities" of psychotherapy on the UKCP website.  This link takes you to the Humanistic and Integrative section.  You can view descriptions of the other types of psychotherapy by clicking on the About Us tab on the header bar of that page and selecting Modality Sections from the drop-down. This will give a further drop-down list of modalities each of which you can view by clicking.

 

The BACP website has a more comprehensive list of types of therapy, each with a short description, on the page Explanation of theoretical approaches.  There is also an excellent page on What to expect from therapy.

 

Mind is a good resource for general mental health matters and some of their material is translated on the MultiKulti website into a wide range of languages.

 

 

If you have a specific question about how I practice, which is not addressed in How I Work, please email me.