Anyone can benefit from psychotherapy. Talking to a trained professional can help you to explore your concerns, thoughts, and feelings and improve your mental health. You may feel that what you’re experiencing isn’t serious enough to get help or feel unsure about the kind of support psychotherapy can offer. But anyone can benefit from becoming more aware of how they see the world and why. Sometimes ‘psychotherapy’ and ‘psychotherapeutic counselling’, are called ‘talking therapies’. For the most part, this is because they involve talking about an emotional difficulty with a trained therapist. That might be anything from grief to anxiety, relationship difficulties to addiction.

All psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors are equipped to support you with challenges such as depression, anxiety, addiction, or trauma, or with life events such as childbirth, divorce, bereavement, or the loss of a job. But there are many different approaches in which qualified therapists specialise.

You certainly don’t need to understand them all. The important thing is to reach out to someone you think might be a good fit.

If you would like to know more about some of the different philosophies and theories of psychotherapy, visit our page about psychotherapy approaches.

Individual talking therapy
One-to-one therapy offers a non-judgmental, confidential and safe space for you to reflect on any emotional difficulties with a trained therapist. That might include grief, anxiety, relationship difficulties, addiction or something else.

Exactly how talking therapy works will depend on the approach your therapist specialises in, which could be anything from psychoanalysis to person-centred psychotherapy. It’s useful to consider which approach might appeal to you. But no matter which approach they use, you will be supported to explore your feelings, behaviours and thoughts.

Couples therapy
Couples therapy offers a space for people in a relationship to explore and understand their struggles, including everything from recovering from affairs to difficulty handling conflict, whether you feel you’re at a crisis point or you’re looking to maintain a healthy partnership.

You’ll look at how to better communicate and resolve conflict, with a view to making your relationships healthier and more satisfying. If your relationship has come to an end, the psychotherapist can help you to manage separating in the best way.

Family therapy This therapy is about family relationships. It works from the premise that a problem lies within the family as a whole, rather than with a single person in it. The focus is on how family members interact in and outside the therapy session. The therapist supports the family to consider their relationships and behaviours, and how they work together. Group therapy You work with one or more therapists and a small group of other people to help improve your ability to cope with life’s difficulties and problems.

The aim is to encourage the personal development of people in the group. Through specific exercises and talking, you’ll look at your past experiences as well as interactions between group members. The issues you have in your daily life will inevitably be reflected in your interactions in the group. It might seem intimidating to speak about your thoughts and feelings and issues you may be struggling with in front of a group of people, but your therapist will make sure that everyone is safe and supported. It can be very powerful to share what you have been going through with people who may have had similar experiences and to know that you aren’t alone.

Therapy that uses worksheets, journaling, or written exercises Therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and journal therapy include written exercises which help you to examine your thoughts and look at how they affect your feelings and behaviour. In CBT, your therapist might ask you to do some exercises to understand how you can change your thought patterns. In journal therapy, you are supported by a therapist to write down, talk through and analyse your issues and concerns.

Sense of connection — You should enjoy talking with your counselor and have a good back and forth in your conversations. You should also feel like your therapist supports you and cares for your wellbeing. Your therapist should feel like a trusted ally and advisor, someone you look forward to seeing.