Choosing a therapist

Many of us have struggled during lockdown and considered turning to therapy for support.  Obviously finding the right fit of therapist is important. There are several different routes to go down in order to find a therapist, one is through the NHS. This journey starts with a visit to your doctor. Often short Cognitive Behavioural Therapies are offered for stress and anxiety. Other routes could be through a charitable organisation, these vary from addiction counselling across a spectrum through to couples counselling. Sometimes the NHS and charity routes can involve a waiting list. The other option is to find a private therapist. This can be expensive so finding a therapist you can afford that also fits with your needs is important.

There are many different ways to find a private therapist, one is to do a google search for your area. There are also directories and registers for therapists like COSCA’s directory:

https://cosca.org.uk/our-services/find-counsellor/find-a-counsellor

Things to consider:

What type of therapy would you like? You don’t necessarily need to know this in advance. There are many different approaches and types of talking therapies. This is often referred to as the modality. Each modality is usually defined by different theoretical underpinning, the way the therapist may approach the work and the ‘tools’ they will use. 

The more common types of therapy are: 

CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. 

Explores your thoughts and the way you think and act. 

Psychodynamic & Psychoanalytic

Explores how your unconscious thoughts might affect the way you act and use the past and present to help you gain insight.

Person Centred Therapy 

Focuses on using your own strengths and insight about yourself to encourage personal growth and improve relationships.

Dialectical Therapy 

Explores opposite positions and looks at how they might exist together.

Integrative or Eclectic Therapy 

Using a mix of theory and tools to tailor to the needs of the client. 

Face to face or Online?

There are also different way to receive therapy. We often think of it as only being face to face but since our response to Covid 19 many therapists now offer online sessions or telephone sessions. All these options can work well if the therapist has experience in delivering therapy in these ways. You may wish to consider which you would prefer as part of choosing your therapist. 

Experience, Qualifications & Ethics

Once you have found a therapist you think you want to work with check out their experience, qualifications, code of ethics and memberships of governing bodies. If this information is not on their website then feel free to ask them. Having knowledge of this may help you make your decision. Many people are now seeking therapy and our conversation about mental health in our society is improving, becoming less stigmatised and more open. Sometimes asking friends and family you trust for therapist recommendations can help too. 

Finding the right fit will depend on what feels right for you and your own preferences. Hopefully this article helps you to start your journey and highlights some of the things to consider.  

At Evolve we are experienced, Integrative therapists so we have a wide understanding and approach to our work. We are also supervisors for other counsellors which adds to our knowledge and experience of therapy. If you have any queries about therapy we can help you with please email us on info@evolvecounselling.org