Sometimes ‘psychotherapy’ is called ‘talk therapy’. For the most part, this is because psychotherapy involves talking about an emotional difficulty with a trained psychotherapist. That might be anything from grief to anxiety, relationship difficulties to addiction, feeling stuck in life to childhood trauma.
ICP psychotherapists are trained to help you express your thoughts and feelings and explore what comes up when you do. They listen and provide a non-judgmental space so you can feel heard and understood, to gain new insights and begin to make changes.
You don’t need to be in crisis or have a diagnosed mental illness to seek psychotherapy. It can help you with emotional or mental health problems, including:
- anxiety and/or panic attacks
- feeling like you can’t cope
- dealing with stress or recovering from stressful situations
- lack of confidence or extreme shyness
- coping with the effects of abuse (that was recent or in the past)
- feelings of depression, sadness, anger or emptiness
- extreme mood swings
- difficulty making or sustaining relationships, or repeatedly becoming involved in unsatisfying or destructive relationships
- sexual problems
- difficulties coming to terms with losses such as bereavement, divorce, unemployment or ill health
- addiction, eating disorders and disordered eating
- self-harm or suicidal thoughts
- questioning sexuality, gender identity or gender expression
- neurodiversity.
Anyone can benefit from psychotherapy. Talking to a trained professional can help you to explore your concerns, thoughts and feelings and improve your mental health.
Psychotherapy recognises the lasting impact of trauma. This is when stressful events that you experience or witness make you feel unsafe, helpless or vulnerable and these effects continue to impact your life. Trauma can also be a result of things that did not happen but should have. You’ll work with a psychotherapist to think about what has happened to you, not what is ‘wrong’ with you. The focus is on compassion, listening and understanding rather than making a diagnosis.
Psychotherapy can be a powerful, life-changing experience which can help you to overcome social or emotional challenges, improve your mental health, and fulfil your potential. A trained psychotherapist can support you to:
- express your feelings and process them in a safe and supportive relationship
- gain deeper insight into the issues you face
- talk about things in a confidential environment that you might not feel able to discuss with anyone else
- find better ways to cope with feelings and fears
- change the way you think and behave to improve your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing
- improve relationships in your life, including with yourself
- make sense of any clinical diagnoses you have had been given, by understanding what has happened to you
- heal from trauma
- learn to communicate better and tolerate differences in yourself and others.
As well as talking, psychotherapy can use a range of methods including art, music, drama and movement. Each has different benefits, but research shows the relationship between you and your psychotherapist is the most important thing in overcoming the challenges that bring you to psychotherapy.
There are also lots of different formats for psychotherapy. A psychotherapist can provide one-to-one support, or work with you and a partner or family member(s), or in a group. You might see them in-person in their practice or home or speak on the phone or online.
The idea is for you to have the opportunity to explore the issue or concern you want to work on with your psychotherapist. Different psychotherapists will support you to do this in different ways. Some will support you to talk generally about your feelings, behaviours and thoughts, and others will have specific exercises to do this. They won’t tell you what to do but will listen and may ask questions which can help you to see things in a new light.
This might feel difficult to begin with, but your psychotherapist is there to support you to open up and guide the process in a safe way. Together, you’ll look at the relationships with people in your life, as well as the one you have with each other and with yourself. You might find yourself crying, getting upset or angry. This can feel unsettling and intense, but your psychotherapist is trained to help you process and cope with the emotions that come up.
ICP psychotherapists are highly trained, meet rigorous standards of training, and abide by a professional ethical code. They can provide a safe space for you to process what you are facing right now. You can find an ICP psychotherapist using Find a Psychotherapist
The right psychotherapist will help you to feel safe, heard and understood in a non-judgemental environment so that you can find better ways to cope and improve your emotional wellbeing.
It is not always easy to speak to a person about details of your life, particularly intimate details – but it can be life-changing. It is essential that you find a psychotherapist that you can trust and feel comfortable sharing intimate details of your life with.
Research has shown that one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy is the relationship you form with your psychotherapist. A strong relationship will help you to overcome the challenges you face in the present and to heal from painful events in the past.
Below you will find guidance on how to choose the right psychotherapist for you.
Step One: Search our find a Psychotherapist directory
ICP psychotherapists are fully trained and committed to good practice, ethical conduct, and continuous learning and development.
There are over 1,000 psychotherapists on Find a Psychotherapist, and you can search by location, whether you’d like to meet in person or online, and the issue you want to work on.
Things to think about when you’re using Find a Psychotherapist include:
- Would you like to find a psychotherapist with a particular speciality or focus?
- Is geographical location important to you i.ie do you want to see someone in your local area, near work or elsewhere?
- What forum would you like to use to meet the psychotherapist i.e. online, in-person or on the phone?
- Does the gender of your psychotherapist matter?
- Are you interested in a specific type of psychotherapy?
- Are you looking for psychotherapy as an individual, or in a couple, a group, or family?
- Are you looking for psychotherapy for yourself as an adult, or on behalf of a child or adolescent?
Step two: Contact a psychotherapist
Once you have found a potential psychotherapist on Find a Psychotherapist, you should send them an email or give them a call. You could give a brief overview of why you wish to see a psychotherapist to find out whether they are able to help you. Ask the person you are contacting if they have appointments at a time and place that suits you and how much they charge.
It can be useful to speak to a psychotherapist in person or over the phone as it will give you a sense of what they are like, how they sound, and whether you would feel comfortable working with them.
Be aware that you might not be able to reach the psychotherapist straight away as they often use voicemail when they are in client sessions. However, if you leave a message, they should return your call.
Step three: Try a first session
The first session is a chance to see how you feel being with a psychotherapist and get a sense of how they work and if you might work well together.
They will probably ask you to talk more about what brings you to psychotherapy and they may have an assessment form which they will fill in on your behalf. This helps assess if they are the right person to help you. They might ask about:
- the history of the issue you want to work on
- your childhood
- relationships with family, friends and partners
- what helps you cope
- if you have any health issues and take medication
- if you’ve had psychotherapy before and what was useful about it if you did.
Remember, it’s your session and you are in control. You can ask questions to help you decide whether you want to work with the person. These might include:
- What experience and training have you had in working with the issue I am dealing with?
- What can I expect to happen in our sessions?
- What format does your type of psychotherapy take?
- How do you think you could help me?
- How many sessions do you think I might need?
- What happens if I need to cancel a session?
Step four: Assess how you feel
Once you have completed your first session with a psychotherapist, you may want to go away and think about whether you would like to work with the psychotherapist again. Alternatively, you could agree what happens next at the end of the session.
Things to think about include:
- Do you feel at ease with the psychotherapist?
- Do you think you could build a trusting relationship with them?
- Would you feel comfortable telling them about intimate details of your life when you’re ready?
- Do you feel safe with them?
- Did they listen to you?
It’s completely okay to meet with a psychotherapist and ask them a lot of questions and then decide not to work with them.
Many people don’t find the right psychotherapist first time. If this happens to you, it is not your fault. You have already decided you would benefit from psychotherapy, so it is worth trying again and booking an initial appointment with another psychotherapist. The relationship with the psychotherapist is key, so it’s important you find someone who is a ‘good fit’ for you and what you need.