IS COUNSELLING FOR YOU?
- I am stuck in my
life.
- I
repeat the same patterns of behaviour
- I am overwhelmed by feelings of confusion anxiety and depression
- I don't seem to be able to handle my problems like other
people do.
- I am sick of being myself.
- I am self-destructive.
- I have a bad self-image and low self-esteem
- I have persistent problems with relationships.
- I would like to gain more confidence.
- I would like to get to know myself better.
- I would like to change the way I behave.
- I have fears and phobias about things that affect my life
- I struggle to make and maintain relationships
- I have problems at work
If the answer
is yes to any of the above statements, some form of talking therapy may be right for you. But there is a down side to therapy,
and it may be worth considering the following too.
- Do I tend to think I'm all right and other people need to change?
- Do I feel I need to hold on to my present symptoms?
- I think looking deeply into myself
would be a waste of time.
- I need to be motivated to keep appointments.
- I don't really believe that people can change
If the last five questions/statements express your feelings about therapy, it is probably
not for you.
Here are a sample of some of the different types of Counselling and Psychotherapy there are:
NLP
Gestalt
Psychodrama
Psychodynamic
Hypnotherapy
Group Therapy
Person Centred
Rational-Emotive
Eclectic/Integrative
Stress Management
Behavioural Therapy
Transactional Analysis
Cognitive psychotherapy
Existential Analytic Psychology
As you can see they all sound very technical, even to the trained mind. There are in fact over 400 different
types of 'Talking Therapy'.
To generalise;
the methods can be split into three categories Psychoanalytic, Behavioural (including Cognitive and Emotional) and Humanist
Therapies.
The therapy model I have
been trained to use is called Person-Centred/Integrative Counselling. This type of Counselling combines two or more therapy
models, from either or all of the above categories; in my case, Person-Centred, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Solution
Focused Brief Therapy; therefore, a blend from the humanistic and behavioural approaches.
This broader integrative approach to Counselling and Psychotherapy allows me to
use different techniques and tools as appropriate, thus blending a recipe that is best suited to the client, rather than making
the client fit the therapy model.
For example:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will help you examine the way you think and your beliefs, and in doing so, change the way you feel.
Goal-orientated Solution Focused Brief Therapy will help you find solutions to specific problems, rather than looking back into the
past and analysing it.
Person-Centered Therapy is less structured, and often preferred by those clients that want to look at
personal development as part of their therapy and is the preferred choice for bereavement and loss therapy.
Alan Shinwell. Dip Couns,
is Person-Centered Trained and works using a humanistic model, incorporating Solution Focused Brief
Therapy and other interventions that are in keeping with this theoretical foundation.
But whatever model used, a good Counsellor will
follow the client with an attitude of acceptance, non-possessive warmth, genuineness, honesty and spontaneity, and trusts
the expertise of the client that he or she, will know what is most important to them and what hurts. It is not the place of the Counsellor
or Psychotherapist to tell the client what to do, but to offer feedback, help fomulate goals and action plans,
look at behaviour patterns and themes and offer information; the client then has the opportunity to look at these, discuss
them, and proceed in the the best way forward for them.
Counselling does not offer magic solutions, it can be hard work, and progress can be slow and sometimes
painful whichever model is used. It's interesting to note though, that research shows that the success of Counselling
owes more to the relationship between client and Counsellor, rather than the theoretical model used.
Counselling and Psychotherapy - what's the difference?
I am often asked, “what is the difference
between Psychotherapy and Counselling?". To be honest, nowadays, very little, as the two approaches now overlap. In the
past, it was thought that those therapists that used a model that looked back over a person's life, and analysed
it, were working as psychotherapists. Often this type of therapy lasted many months, and used to be used predominantly in
more medical settings. Counselling on the other hand, was about looking at, and dealing with the “here and now”
- so far more immediate, and often lasted for weeks rather than months and years. But over the last 20 years or so, the training
of therapists has expanded vastly, and there are now courses that combine different approaches and different models, resulting
in a compete cross-over of skills. We now have Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Counselling Psychotherapy, and Psychological
Counselling to name but a few.
Here are examples of some of the many issues we are experienced at helping
with:
Depression
Panic Attacks
Relationships
Career issues
Low Self-Esteem
Phobia and Fears
Lack of confidence
Anger Management
Stress Management
Separation and Divorce
Loss and Bereavement
Affects Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
Affects of alcohol
and substance abuse
Family issues
such as coping with children
If you are interested
in Face to Face Counselling in Manchester, or would just like more information about costs or appointment
times, just send me an email or call for an informal chat. Counselling sessions are usually
booked weekly, and can continue for as long or as short as you feel you need them, and they can be extended
to fortnightly or monthly if preferred.
With the agreement of the client, Hypnotherapy
and Regression work can also be used. This form of Psychotherapy
can be very useful for helping clients deal with phobias, fears, habitual behaviour, anxiety and stress, to name but a few.
Generic Self-Hypnosis CDs and downloads are also available as stand-alone
therapy or in conjunction with face-to-face Hypnotherapy. For more information
on this type of therapy see: Hypnotherapy
