Therapies

I am a BACP Accredited Psychotherapist and I founded Talking Treatment Associates to make it easier for people in need of talking therapy to find the best and the most appropriate practitioners and treatments.

We replace the confusing and often stressful ‘hit and miss’ method of picking a treatment, with a focused and guided process. Talking Treatment Associates is designed to match you, and your individual needs, to the therapist with the right knowledge and skills to help.

We guarantee integrity and ethical practice in accordance with BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists); UKCP (UK Council of Psychotherapy), and BPS (British Psychological Society) guidelines.

Clearing the first hurdle

Terminology is one of the biggest obstacles to finding your way through the therapies on offer: so, here is a list of the main types of talking therapy used by our therapists, with a brief description:

Integrative Therapy

The combining of different approaches to meet a client’s individual needs

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Concentrating on how unexamined thought processes – assumptions, expectations, beliefs etc. – affect emotions, which in turn affect physiological processes and, ultimately, behaviour.

CBT attempts to challenge and alter the negative thinking bias, thus promoting more positive feelings and physical wellbeing.

Schema Therapy

Schema therapy is an extension of CBT. Some problems are deeply embedded, and derive from distorted patterns and habits of thought (maladaptive schema) formed in early life. These ‘schema’ make certain individuals highly vulnerable to emotional disorders.

Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Therapy

Based on the talking treatment devised by Sigmund Freud, the relationship between the patient and the therapist is contrived to replicate past relationships that may have caused trauma too distressing for the conscious mind to take on board. Powerful defence processes can hide such experiences in the unconscious mind. The therapeutic relationship is a way of bringing to the surface, and resolving, emotional problems that disable the "patient".

Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)

DIT also uses the relationship between client and therapist to aid resolution of distressing and anxiety provoking conflicts. However, the process is much shorter, and focuses on how past negative and distressing relationships impact the client in the here and now.

Person Centred/Humanistic Therapy

Humanistic therapies encourage the patient to focus on their current subjective understanding rather than unconscious motives. It places great importance on the therapist’s personal helpfulness towards the patient, rather than their analytical skill.

Existential / Phenomenological Therapy

Existential / Phenomenological therapy assumes that internal conflict occurs as we struggle with the four 'givens' or undeniable truths about life. These are death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness. This therapy focuses on confronting and eventually accepting these givens as part of life. It adopts an optimistic view of human potential whilst acknowledging human limitations.

Not so much a Who’s Who as a Who’s What of therapists:

Psychiatrists - Assess, diagnose and treat mental health problems within the "medical model" of treatment. They train first in medical school to be medical doctors, then specialise in mental illness. They can prescribe psychotropic medicines and have legal power to "section" patients (enforced hospitalisation and medication).

Psychologists - Conduct research and develop methods of evidence based treatments. Psychology is the first degree before postgraduate training in one of the specialisms - counselling, clinical, occupational, health, educational or forensic.

Counsellors - Counselling has its roots in non-medical pastoral care for traumatised service personnel. It aims to use a reparative relationship (the counsellor and client) to understand and help the client work through their "issues". Counselling skills address crisis and trauma work, as well as providing treatment for addictions, eating disorders, sexual problems, relationship difficulties, work stress and bereavement.

Psychotherapists – Like counsellors, psychotherapists can read degrees other than psychology, before embarking on their training. They tend to have a particular interest in psychodynamic and psychoanalytical approaches to mental health for individuals who have very entrenched mental health problems (called personality disorders in a medical setting).

Shrink – A slang term for all of the above...a "problem shrinker"

To find out more email alex@talkingtreatment.com
or call us on 07970 637 908