Once you decide you want to have therapy, you have to choose a therapist. Most therapists describe themselves in terms of the type of therapy they provide. This makes it challenging for clients to choose if they are unaware of what those different types of therapy mean and for whom and what they are most suitable. Most types of therapy will help you manage emotional upset, anxiety, confidence, depression, grief, abuse, trauma, lack of direction and relationship breakdown. This article attempts to provide you with enough knowledge to know about different types of therapy and therapists so you can make an informed choice. How do you choose a therapist?
If you choose a therapist that doesn’t seem right to you, you can always change therapists. And if you need a specific or specialist type of therapy, most therapists will refer you to someone appropriate.
How do you find a psychotherapist?
Recommendations from family and friends aren’t always helpful – what suits one person and their situation, might not be suitable for others.
Professional associations for therapists and counsellors
One of the best places to start is the professional associations. This reassures you that the therapist has done the necessary training (usually to at least level 4), follows appropriate ethical rules and has insurance.
NCPS – National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society NCPS | Counsellor Directory
BACP – British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy How to find a therapist: BACP Therapist Directory
UKCP – UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) psychotherapy.org.uk
BPS – British Psychological Society Find a psychologist | BPS. BPS lists accredited Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists and Chartered Psychologists.
HCPC – Health and Care Professions Council hcpc-uk.co.uk regulates some types of health, psychology and social work professionals.
As a psychotherapeutic counsellor, I am a member of both the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (NCPS) (although some of my training was BACP accredited) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) Kim Tasso credentials (tassotalkingtherapy.co.uk)
Commercial directories for therapist
There are also many commercial directories where therapists and counsellors pay to have their details listed. For example: Find the right Counsellor or Therapist for you – Counselling Directory (counselling-directory.org.uk)).
Another service, particularly for those checking availability of online therapy is Counsellingo Counselling Online.
Mental health charities
There are also lists of therapists provided by mental health charities. And these may know therapists who specialise in particular conditions or groups of clients. For example:
Mind – Useful contacts – talking therapy and counselling – Mind Local Minds often provide counselling and therapy services themselves – sometimes at a discounted rate – so it is worth asking them. Local Minds will also be familiar with the therapists in their area and can signpost you. I spent five years Volunteering as a Trustee with Richmond Borough Mind (kimtasso.com)
Relate – relate.org.uk specialises in relationship counselling and couples therapy
Cruse – Bereavement Support cruse.org.uk
Mind Out – MindOut | Mental Health Charity for LGBTQ community
Your employer
If you are employed, your employer may subscribe to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). These will provide free, confidential counselling sessions for you – often online. Speak to your Human Resources department for further help.
Your GP
You can speak to your GP who will be able to refer you to free NHS counselling. The NHS prefers CBT (Cognitive Based Therapy – see below) as there is more clinical evidence about its efficiency. But CBT doesn’t suit all clients and may not be appropriate for your situation. Also, there can be long waiting lists for NHS therapy.
Search the Internet
Of course you can search the Internet to find a local therapist. But make sure you check their credentials before proceeding. Some people claim to be therapists or counsellors who have not had the required training to a professional standard.
In an emergency
In an emergency or if you are having a mental health crisis, there are organisations that you should reach out to: Where to get urgent help for mental health – NHS (www.nhs.uk) or charities such as:
Samaritans – Contact Us | Samaritans
Calm – Homepage | Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) (thecalmzone.net)
Papyrus – About Us | Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity (papyrus-uk.org)
What to consider when choosing a therapist
There are several things to consider when choosing a therapist. For example:
Logistics – Online, telephone or face-to-face?
If you hope to see a therapist face-to-face you will need to consider their location. Obviously, this is not an issue if you prefer online or telephone sessions. However, you will need a safe and confidential space if you are receiving therapy online or on the telephone.
Availability – day of week and time of day?
You should also consider the availability of therapists for your chosen day of the week and time to fit in your work, family and other commitments. While it is possible to obtain single session therapy, usually you will need to agree to see a therapist every week for at least eight sessions.
Cost
Most therapists will charge from £60 an hour.
You may be able to find low-cost counselling from local charities (there may be waiting times for these). For example, I provided low cost and long-term counselling for nearly two years through RCPS (richmond-counselling-psychotherapy.com)
Neurodivergent
Some therapists are qualified to deal with people who are neurodivergent. For example, they may work with those on the autism spectrum or with conditions such as ADHD.
What are the different types of mental health therapy?
Here I outline the main types of therapy to help you make your choice. Talking therapies differ in:
- focus (for example, learning about more yourself by talking about your past or working to address a specific problem you have such as panic attacks)
- techniques that are used during sessions (for example, some therapies might use dance or art)
- academic theory and research
There is no one “right type” of therapy! Remember that the client-therapist relationship is the most important thing! Research indicates that the main success factor in therapy is the relationship between the client and the therapist. So you need to find someone that you feel comfortable with. This may, of course, take a few sessions to know for sure but you will get an indication from the free initial call that most therapists offer.
There are many different types of therapy – and the number increases all the time. So here is a list of the main types to help you choose a therapist
Integrative or Integrated therapy
This means that the therapist has trained to use a number of different approaches. They may then select the appropriate type of therapy depending on what the client needs. And this may vary at the start, during and towards the end of your therapy. I trained as an integrative therapist.
Psychoanalytic (or analytic)
Focuses on difficult unconscious, deep-rooted thoughts, feelings and behaviours that often arise from childhood. It involves discovering unconscious meanings and motivations. Clients learn about themselves by exploring their interactions in the therapeutic relationship. You may be familiar with the work of Sigmund Freud – the pioneer of psychotherapy – on which this approach is based. A more modern approach is psychodynamic (or dynamic) which explores how your unconscious thoughts might affect the way you act.
Cognitive therapy
Cognitive therapy explores your thoughts and the way you think. Cognitive therapists believe that it’s dysfunctional thinking that leads to dysfunctional emotions or behaviours. For example, negative thought patterns or rumination.
Major figures in cognitive therapy include Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. A popular form is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Person-Centred or Client-Centred (Humanistic)
This tradition is based on the work of Carl Rogers. This approach focuses on the individual as a whole (mind, body, spirit and soul). It focuses on using your own strengths and insight about yourself to encourage personal growth and improve relationships. This approach emphasizes people’s capacity to make rational choices and develop to their maximum potential. Concern and respect for others are also important themes. It rejects the idea of therapists are experts or authorities on their clients’ inner experiences. Instead, therapists help clients change by emphasizing their concern, care and interest.
Person-centred therapists focus on three core conditions: empathy, congruence and universal positive regard (UPR). I’ve written a little more about this: A general law of interpersonal relationships? (kimtasso.com).
Transactional Analysis (TA)
I’ve provided an introductory video on the Parent Adult Child (PAC) model: the parent, adult, child (PAC) model helps with difficult interactions (kimtasso.com)
And here’s an introduction to Transactional Analysis Psychology and business communication (kimtasso.com)
Gestalt therapy
In Gestalt therapy, clients focus on the present (the “here and now”) to understand what is happening in their lives at this moment, and how it makes them feel in the moment, rather than what they might assume is based on past experience. Along with Person-Centered and existential therapy, it is one of the primary forms of humanistic therapy.
The term “gestalt” is derived from a German word that means “whole” or “put together.” Gestalt therapy was developed in the 1940s by Fritz Perls, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and his then-wife, psychotherapist Laura Perls, as an alternative to traditional, verbally-focused psychoanalysis. Their foundational premise is that people are best thought of as whole entities consisting of body, mind, and emotions. And best understood when viewed through their own eyes.
Behavioural therapy
Focuses on the way you behave. You may have heard of Skinner’s work with dogs and rats and positive and negative reinforcement. “Desensitizing” is classical conditioning in action: A therapist might help a client with a phobia through repeated exposure to whatever it is that causes anxiety.
Existential therapy
Existential therapy focuses on the anxieties and uncertainties that are a fundamental part of life and existence, such as death, the fear of the unknown and the meaning of life. At its core is the idea that we all have the capabilities and personal responsibility for making decisions and creating our own success. So the focus is on free will, self-determination and the search for meaning.
Transpersonal therapy
Transpersonal therapy integrates spiritual traditions into modern psychology. It emphasizes positive influences and role models rather than concentrating on negative experiences. Holistic treatment is based on the idea that humans are more than just their mind and body, but are also composed of intangible, or transcendent, factors that make up the whole person.
The method evolved from the humanistic work of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and was formalized by American psychologist Abraham Maslow and associates in the 1960s.
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
This is a form of applied psychology rather than a therapeutic tradition, I qualified as a NLP practitioner many years ago. Here is some further information: What is NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)? – Kim Tasso and The patterns of NLP applied to business interactions by Daryll Scott (kimtasso.com)
Mindfulness
Many therapists will use mindfulness techniques such as breathing exercises and meditation. It involves becoming aware of all your current thoughts and feelings and accepting them.
Specialist therapies
Some therapists specialise even further – and train and qualify in more focused areas. Some of the common areas where therapists specialise include:
Dialectical – This cognitive therapy explores opposite positions and looks at how they might exist together – such as in dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT).
EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy involves moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories. It is used to help you heal from some types of trauma.
IFS – Internal Family Systems, created by Richard C. Schwartz PhD, helps people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts.
Psychosexual therapy (sex therapy) – Aims to help couples and individuals understand and resolve specific sexual difficulties and improve sexual intimacy in relationships.
Please get in touch
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions for a confidential and informal chat.
My counselling and therapy web site: Tasso Talking Therapy
My therapy Facebook page: Kim Talking Therapy (1) Facebook
Further resources on counselling and therapy
Here are further resources to help you learn more about therapy
Short videos
Soft skills – Boost your self-confidence and confidence (Video) (kimtasso.com) October 2020
Business relationships – Using the drama triangle to resolve conflict (kimtasso.com) September 2020
How the parent, adult, child (PAC) model helps with difficult interactions (kimtasso.com) September 2020
Change process – Emotions when reacting to change (kimtasso.com) April 2020
Building Resilience – Regulation, Reframing, Relationships and Reflection (kimtasso.com) May 2020
Articles
Emotional Regulation – A key element of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) (kimtasso.com) August 2021
Psychology and business communication (kimtasso.com) January 2015 An introduction to Transactional Analysis (TA) and the Parent Adult Child model
10 tips to increase your resilience – Kim Tasso March 2013
Book reviews
Book reviews on stress and trauma – “When the body says No” (kimtasso.com) June 2024 Review of “When the body says no – The cost of hidden stress” by Gabor Mate and “The body keeps the score – mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma” by Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk
Book review: The Thriving Lawyer by Traci Cipriano (resilience) (kimtasso.com) June 2024 A review of a book into the mental health and resilience of lawyers in law firm cultures. The author is a former practising attorney and clinical psychologist.
The Tools – Five life-changing techniques to unlock your potential (kimtasso.com) April 2024 A review of the book by psychiatrist Phil Stutz
Book review – Creating self-esteem by Lynda Field (kimtasso.com) March 2024 A classic book on realizing your true self worth
Book review: How to do the work (recognise your patterns (kimtasso.com) December 2023. Review of a book to support psychoeducation. Topics include: conscious self, theory of trauma, mind-body healing practices, inner child, boundaries, reparenting and emotional maturity.
Dr Julie Smith (Mental Health Guidance) (kimtasso.com) July 2023. Review of the book “Why has nobody told me this before?” that explores helpful ideas on low mood and depression, motivation, anxiety, emotional pain, grief, self-doubt, fear, stress and a meaningful life.
Overcoming clinical depression (2021) by Oliver Kamm (kimtasso.com) March 2023. A review of the book “Mending the Mind” by a journalist who explores what it is like to suffer from depression and both the medical and psychological sources of help.
Lost connections – Why you’re depressed by Johann Hari (kimtasso.com) October 2019. A review of a popular but controversial book about the nine common reasons people suffer from depression.
Crazy busy – Book review – Dealing with stress (kimtasso.com) October 2009. This book examines modern life and offers practical advice to avoid stress, restore calm and be more resilient.
Book review: The psychology of successful women by Shona Rowan (kimtasso.com) June 2022. Topics include: confidence, assertiveness, boundaries, public speaking, impact, influence, visibility and bouncing back from setbacks.
Your personal transition – Endings, neutral zone and new beginnings (kimtasso.com) June 2020. Helps you navigate major changes in your life and prepares you for the emotional roller-coaster of change.
