Psychological Therapies & Mental Health

Psychological therapy is sometimes referred to as “talking therapy” with a trained practitioner. It is more than just talking about your problems to someone who will listen, empathise, offer practical solutions or give reassurance. Psychological therapy is a collaborative process to explore and address issues related to mental health or around self-identity, meaning or purpose. In a safe and confidential setting, we aim to help you better understand your thoughts and feelings in the context of your past and current experiences. Also see, below, our FAQ on Confidentiality.

The vast majority of us experience psychological difficulties at some point in our lives. We don’t always need therapy. However, just like physical health, while we often do our best to look after ourselves, we need to consult doctors from time to time in situations that we are less sure of or when problems don’t seem to improve as we expect.

Therapy can help you gain clarity on an issue, change less helpful patterns of coping, address complex personal issues, or embark on a journey of self-development and transformation. One might seek a mental health or Clinical Psychologist in a time of crisis or when encouraged by family members, friends or colleagues. It is, however, important that it is you, not other people, no matter how caring they are, who decide on your therapy. 

Examples of common issues people have therapy for include: 

– Work-place issues (stress, work-life balance) 

– Relationship difficulties (work, family, marital, other social) 

– Emotional and relational impacts of adjusting to physical health conditions 

– Trauma (post-traumatic stress, early-life trauma, abuse) 

– Anxiety (generalised anxiety problems, panic attacks, agoraphobia, social anxiety, 

claustrophobia, other phobias) 

– Depression / low mood 

– Low self-esteem and confidence 

– Loss and bereavement 

– OCD 

– Addictions 

– Issues with eating

This is a non-crisis service. Your therapist will only be available to you at your scheduled appointment time. In the case of crisis or emergency, please contact your doctor and if you are a UK resident, call the Samaritans (116 123) or the emergency services on 111.

Like any human relationship, you will not find the same experience with different therapists, even if they use the same approach. Your initial meeting with a therapist gives you opportunities to get to know each other and jointly decide if this relationship is working well for you. It is important that you clarify expectations and experience good rapport in this process.

During therapy you might feel vulnerable in talking about difficult but important experiences. It requires a sense of trust in yourself, your therapist and the process. This trust can be developed gradually with support from your therapist, towards an open and honest relationship that will benefit both your therapy and your life outside of therapy.

Often more than one type of therapy may be beneficial for a client. You might or might not be sure of the particular approach that would be suitable for you. There will be opportunities to discuss with your therapist your needs, goals and the different types of therapy that might help with your unique situation.

You can expect: 

– to be treated with dignity and respect 

– to be informed what choices of therapy are available to you

– to have opportunities to ask questions and to understand what the therapy involves 

– to be seen by an experienced and suitably trained therapist, who will work to a professional code of conduct and who will be receiving supervision of their work 

At the start of your psychological therapy, you can also expect to discuss your Therapy Contract, which will include agreeing the main focus of your therapy, how many sessions you will have and the time and location of these sessions.

The length of your therapy will depend on a number of factors including: your goals, the type of difficulties you are working with, for how long you’ve experienced these difficulties and your level of commitment to the process. It is therefore important for you to have a clear goal and this is something your therapist will help you with.

If you have your own constraints about how long you can commit to therapy, eg, due to time or financial reasons, do make this clear in your initial meeting so this can be taken into account for the most helpful therapy approach for you. For example, you might decide to take a first step towards your development and to revisit issues as and when needed from time to time.

Each therapy session lasts about 60 minutes unless a longer or shorter session is indicated and agreed in advance. After the first meeting, if both you and your therapist are happy to continue, we will ask you to agree to a further number of sessions (eg, 5). This is to enable us to gain a more thorough understanding of your needs and situation as well as address issues more appropriately. At this initial stage, patients usually find the improved, shared understanding of their issues and potential solutions very helpful.

To develop working relationships and build resilience, sessions usually take place weekly or fortnightly. As the work progresses, it may be appropriate to meet less frequently. On the other hand, extra sessions might be scheduled to support you if needed.

Depending on the complexity of issues, agreed goals and approach, the length of therapy can range from 6 sessions to many months or years. The therapist will agree and review your personalised plan with you on a regular basis.

As in most learning in life, the more you put in, the more you will benefit. It is therefore important that we are realistic about the practical and emotional resources that you are able and willing to commit to therapy.

Like any relationship, the more you are able to be open with your therapist, to attend the sessions as agreed, to implement new skills, even if this sometimes feels difficult, the more likely you will gain real and lasting benefits.

If you know at the beginning that giving therapy a high priority is likely to be difficult for you, then please discuss this with your therapist to explore other options that may be more suitable.

During this process, if you come across doubts about therapy, it might be beneficial for you to take the opportunity to address this with the therapist. It can enable development of a therapeutic relationship and your skills in managing difficult feelings to maintain momentum in progress.

Clinical Psychologists often work with complex mental health conditions and physical health-related psychological issues. Counselling Psychologists focus more on emotional, social and developmental challenges. Both are highly trained and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

You might decide to end your therapy when you and your therapist agree that you have achieved your goals. Other situations when therapy ends can include: you feel that the cost of therapy is outweighing the benefits, or issues arise in the therapeutic relationship that would make it mutually beneficial to discontinue.

Towards the end of therapy there will be an opportunity to reflect on what you have gained from it and what your next steps might be. This may involve thinking about what other support you might need to help you maintain progress.

The ending of therapy can affect people in many different ways and there is no ‘right’ way to feel. The emotional response can vary and resolve over time. It is important to pay attention to your feelings, look after yourself at the end of therapy with the learning you have gained and try to keep in touch with your support network and care for your physical wellbeing.

You may just be seeing your psychologist or be under one of our GPs as well, who might refer you to our in-house physiotherapist, nutritionist and / or breath coach. These referrals would be made with your agreement, including your consent, to discuss your management plan within the clinical team. This has the added benefit of sparking new therapeutic avenues and keeping your clinical team in the loop to provide you with the best possible integrated care.

All the sessions are confidential between the psychologist and the client. This generally means that your practitioner cannot discuss you or your case with any third parties without your prior consent. There are, however, some limits to confidentiality: Psychologists regularly present their work in confidential professional supervision. If the client’s or another person’s safety were to be severely jeopardised, then the practitioner may contact the relevant parties for safeguarding purposes. In a court of law, a psychologist may be required to answer questions about a client.