Psychotherapy

What is the difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy?

In practice, there is some overlap between the two. Generally speaking, psychotherapists work at a broader, or deeper level, and they may also carry out counselling. Not all counsellors are trained to the same level, and so some may also work in psychotherapy.

Counselling

With counselling, there is a focus on resolving problems in your present life, by actively talking them through. You may have reached a point where there is a crisis in your life, such as a bereavement, or a relationship breakdown, or stress from losing your job, for example. Perhaps you feel at a bit of a 'crossroads' in your life.

Contemporary counselling works by helping you to communicate clearly about your feelings and emotions at this time, and how you can begin to move forward from here. With this approach, there will be ways of coping and viewing your problem which we can identify together, and then work in a way which helps you to come to terms with past events and improve how you feel about things now.

Counselling can be quite short-term, over a few sessions, or perhaps up to twelve weeks or so. We can review this at any time, depending on your needs. Everyone has different life problems, and so we'll use 'what works' for you, confidentially and in a safe place.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy tends to be longer-term than counselling, as it involves a broader view of you and your life experiences. We all experience painful or anxious feelings at one time or another. Many feelings such as sadness, hopelessness, anger and stress, naturally arise as part of living. Where it becomes a problem is when these feelings overwhelm you so much that it becomes harder to function in your daily life.

There may be chronic patterns of bad relationships, troublesome habits, or difficulties at work, for example, or a severe reaction to a stressful event. These patterns can be complex processes, which have to do with the mind and body connection as a whole.

In psychotherapy, we can work together, unravelling and connecting those conscious and unconscious areas. You're then able to make new choices, so that you can face life's ups and downs more easily in future.

What is Contemporary Psychotherapy?

Contemporary psychotherapists view the internal (neurological) connections we make between our conscious and unconscious mind, as those which create change in us, and these changes happen in a supportive and non-judgemental environment.

Contemporary Psychotherapy is highly effective and often much more rapid than traditional forms of psychotherapy, as it uses both new and established methods. It is a flexible, solution-focused approach that helps to create recovery, growth and change in a person. Every client is unique, and so has different needs; the therapist creatively uses 'what works' with that client, helping them towards new ways of thinking about and responding to problems.

Self-development is always central to the process, and so the therapist holds a sincere, positive and sponsoring relationship with that client. Going through the therapy process changes people's feelings about themselves and their situations, and they become happier, more self-confident, and more effective in dealing with life's stresses.

Because sensitive topics are often discussed during psychotherapy, therapists are expected, and legally bound, to respect client confidentiality.

Contemporary Psychotherapists adhere to the codes and ethics of the Community of Contemporary Psychotherapy, which is an organisational member of the UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy). Many therapists are also members of BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy).

Development of Contemporary Psychotherapy

Historically, it has developed from the processes of Ericksonian Psychotherapy and Neuro-Linguistics to integrate 'what works' in the various models of psychotherapy. First generation psychotherapists who learned from Dr. Milton Erickson have contributed directly to developing Contemporary Psychotherapy. They include Dr Ernest Rossi, Dr Stephen Gilligan, William O'Hanlon MS and Dr Michael Yapko. There have also been connected developments in Gestalt, Systemic Family Therapies, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), all of which a Contemporary Psychotherapist can draw on.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Now perhaps the most well-known of the 'brief' therapies. Where behavioural psychotherapy aimed at changing thinking patterns directly, CBT is similar, but also encourages discussion of how we think, and helps us to get rid of destructive ways of thinking. It does not focus very much on the past - more on the present and future and has achieved particular success in the treatment of certain types of depression.

Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy

Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy is a specialised area of methodology often used by Contemporary Psychotherapists. It uses the patterns, structure and process of a person's life experience, rather than the content, to explore how someone thinks. When their successful beliefs have been identified, these can then be applied to new situations.

Like Contemporary Psychotherapy, it acknowledges the importance attached to idea relationships and the fundamental power of unconscious processes; the use of language to represent the world to a person themselves and to other people; the processes that occur when people change their 'state of mind' and how to 'state change' in useful ways; it uses trance and metaphor as a means of integrating new approaches and ideas.