how can psychological therapy help?

Personal problems can have a way of taking over your life. You might find yourself repeating the same old pattern, or you might feel stuck and uncertain of whether it will be possible for you to change the way that you feel. Sometimes having a professional psychologist to talk to is the first step along the road to helping yourself. 

People can find psychological therapy helpful for a host of different reasons, from a need for personal growth and development to assistance with personal problems. Some find that psychological therapy is useful when they are faced with difficult stages or transitions in their normal life cycle. Transitions may include career changes, relationship breakdown, children flying the nest, or retirement. Other people pursue psychological therapy to help alleviate distress, whether from pressures of living or through long-standing problems that have proved resistant to change. Indeed, individuals may choose psychological therapy for difficulties such as sexuality issues, fertility issues, identity issues, trauma (either recent or from the past), eating disorders, phobias, and many more. Others may choose psychological therapy because their life lacks direction or because their life makes no sense. dr. victoria is trained in modern psychological methods to help individuals resolve fears, panics and anxieties, and to help them break through depression or other forms of sadness.

psychological therapy - face-to-face

Introductory Consultation

It is vitally important to choose a psychological therapist with whom you feel safe, comfortable and secure. Therefore your introductory meeting will help you to make an informed decision as to whether you would like to continue working with me. The first meeting is often a huge first step for any individual so I understand and respect the difficulty you may have had in deciding upon this course of action. However, do bear in mind that you may feel uncomfortable initially because of the things that you are discussing. With this in mind, I will always work at your pace and will never force you to talk about something that you would rather not focus upon.  

In this fist session, you will be asked to explain as much about your reasons for seeking assistance as you can, so that I can gain a better understanding of how I may be able to assist. However, if you feel uncertain about explaining certain things, I will respect your decision at all times. During this first session, it is hoped that you will feel supported and understood; and we can see whether we feel comfortable working with one another. If, at the end of the session, you feel as though you would like to continue working with me then we can make another appointment or alternatively you can go away and have a think about it.

some of the things that we could talk about are:

·  Why you feel that therapy may be beneficial for you and why now is the right time for you to gain this assistance

·  What may be causing you distress and what has led up to this.

As a consequence of our discussions in this initial session, your situation may become more clear for you. You can then decide in your own time whether to return for further therapy sessions.

ludlow clinic Consulting Room 

what next?

If you decide that you would like to continue working with me then we would discuss your aims for therapy and we would attempt to discover what your particular issues mean for you and your life. For instance:

 ·  It may be that you find it very difficult to make decisions and that when you do make decisions, others are not happy with the choices you make.

·         It may be that you find yourself continually thinking in negative ways and that you find it difficult to envisage a positive future with the way that things look at the moment.

·         It may be that you would value more helpful ways of coping with the stresses and anxieties that you are experiencing.

·         It may be that you are unhappy with your behaviour and would like to change the ways that you are affected in certain situations.

·         It may be that you do not feel confident in certain situations and that you would value some assistance with developing your self-confidence and finding a more positive outlook on life.

·         It may be that you have experienced pain in your life that you are finding very difficult to overcome.

Indeed, these suggestions are only the tip of the iceberg. People enter into therapy for so many different reasons and each person’s story is unique to them so whatever your motivations are for seeking assistance, these should hopefully become apparent and explored over these sessions. 

A Word of Caution on Psychologists, Counsellors, and Psychotherapists

unlike psychologists, It is currently legal for anyone in the UK to claim to be a Counsellor or Psychotherapist after only a basic course of training, although change is iminent. For this reason, there are professional bodies that validate, register and monitor professionally trained practitioners. It is therefore highly recommended that when you are searching for a Counsellor or Psychotherapist that you ensure that the practitioner is registered to practice by one of these professional bodies. currently, a Counsellor should be registered with the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), and a psychotherapist with either the BACP or the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).  in the near future, the health professions council will hold a register of all practitioners deemed suitably qualified to offer therapeutic services. 

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