How psychotherapy works
Counselling and psychotherapy have been shown to reduce anxiety in clients and assist them in increasing their resilience in dealing with specific life issues and in dealing with life generally.
Some issues such as anger management, bereavement, stress and relationship problems can be improved through short-term counselling and may take only a limited number of sessions. Other deeper issues such as depression, addiction, self-esteem issues and other problems relating to how we feel about ourselves, may be better dealt with in long-term psychotherapy.
What is psychotherapy?
Let’s start with the difference between counselling and psychotherapy. Generally, counselling focuses on a specific issue you may be struggling with in your life and aims to assist you in finding ways in which to cope with that problem or view it from a different perspective. Psychotherapy is similar to counselling, however, it tends to focus on how you are in the world, as opposed to dealing with one particular issue in isolation. Psychotherapy is a more in-depth process which deals with changes in personality structure and ingrained patterns of behaviour; therefore the work is usually longer-term.
In the UK, there as two main professional bodies regulating counselling and psychotherapy. They are the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and the UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy). At Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy both Mark Vahrmeyer and Sam Jahara are registered with the UKCP as psychotherapists and all of our associates are members of the BACP, UKCP or, if they are psychologists, the HCPC.
Whilst some consider the terms of counsellor and psychotherapist to be interchangeable, psychotherapists registered with the UKCP train for a minimum of four years at Masters level at an accredited training institution. They are required to be in personal therapy for the duration of their training, in clinical placement and also to undertake a mental health placement. As such, UKCP registered psychotherapists are able to work with more serious mental health issues than counsellors and at a deeper level.
Research has shown that the quality of the relationship between the client and the therapist has a greater impact on the outcome of therapy than the specific type of approach used. At Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy we work first and foremost to create and maintain a safe supportive relationship with you, beyond which our clinicians apply their training in employing particular approaches to best facilitate your journey and growth.
We have practices in Lewes and Hove and have clients from right across Sussex as well as London and further afield – Get In Touch today to find out more.
