Therapy

This section is all about the various steps in therapy or how therapy happens.

Many people think of Psychological Therapy as lying on a couch being psychoanalysed by a man with a beard! You can rest assured that Therapy these days tends to be much more about working together with your Clinical Psychologist rather than being picked apart and “analysed” by them.

There are a wide range of Talking Therapies all with a slightly different focus. At CommitPsychology the focus of therapy offered will be chosen along with you at the end of assessment. Simon is a highly experienced practitioner who specialises in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, referred to as ACT. He also has experience of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and various forms of Trauma Focused Therapy.

Keep scrolling for some information about how therapy happens:

All about Therapy. How Therapy happens with a Clinical Psychologist

Assessment

The first thing that happens is an assessment. This is about helping your Psychologist to find out about you, your condition and how you cope. This might take a session or two and you will almost certainly be asked to talk about your family background, the way that you grew up, your medical history, the symptoms that affect you most and the ways that you try to cope.

The two of you will work together to develop what in Psychology speak is called a Formulation. It’s a way of seeing how all the cogs and pistons of your life fit together and interact.

Many people worry about getting emotional and upset or worry that they will struggle to say what they need to say. It can be hard, but part of your Psychologist’s skills is to give enough time, space and understanding to make the process as comfortable as possible.

How Therapy Happens. A picture of a man with a telescope gazing at a planet. A metaphor for taking an overview in Assessment

Therapy

There are a number of elements to therapy. Firstly the aim is to help you feel safe, heard and understood. Talking therapy isn’t about being made to feel muddle headed or wrong. It is about both people in the room looking at problems with compassion and curiosity, getting some perspective and seeing what’s helping and what isn’t

There is also some work to be done. After all if things are to change then something new has to happen. The work can be around learning stuff about human psychology; finding new ways to think about issues; working through difficult emotions or difficult memories;  practising new techniques or trying out new ways of acting and doing things.

All this, of course is done in the context of a safe and supportive relationship with your Psychologist.

A small sailing vessel sailing into the sunset. A metaphor for leaving therapy. Created by DALL-E

OUTCOMES

The overall aim of Therapy is something that you and your Psychologist will develop together. So everyone’s outcome will be different and there can be no absolute guarantees that Talking Therapy will be the answer for you.

The Psychologist’s job though, is to work with you, using evidence based strategies to arrive at the best outcome for you. For Physical  Health problems this might be better adaptation to and management of ill health; less anxiety and distress in the face of illness and better ways of maintaining health and well being. In mental health this might mean a better mood state, less fear and worry or the resolution of the impact of trauma.

Over all, the aim is to help you move towards as rich, full and meaningful a life as is possible within the limits imposed by an illness.

How Therapy Happens. A man working at a computer. Your therapist may be able to support you with assessment letters. An encouragement to make contact.

Other sorts of help

Short or long term physical or mental illnesses can bring massive change and massive challenges. They can impact on all aspects of life such as work, finances, housing and relationships. Your Psychologist can help by writing reports and letters of support to employers and agencies or by using their knowledge and experience to point you towards other professionals or sources of support.