When you are looking for help with whatever it is that is
affecting you, finding the right therapy can be a mine field. Especially
if you go looking through your local yellow pages, the number of adverts and
qualifications can be bewildering. Also what do you need? Hypnotherapy,
psychotherapy, psychiatry, N.L.P, reiki, counseling or some new age therapy
the list is endless.
I guess if you don't have a friend who can recommend
someone to you the best bet is to give a therapist a call explaining what
you need and get some some info first hand. Try to get a feel for the
explanation given by the therapist as to what will happen in therapy and
whether it sounds right for you. Also if the therapist does a free
consultation why not pop along?
To make things a little clearer I've prepared a brief
overview of the most common therapies so you can get an idea of what they
are, what they deal with and what to expect if you decide to use them.
Psychiatry: Performed by a doctor. Often long term
analytical therapy with weekly sessions probing the origin of problems are
the route taken by the psychiatrist.
Psychiatrists can and often will prescribe medication to patients to help
with their problems. Anti-depressants or tranquilisers are often the drugs
of choice. Psychiatrists deal with both neurotic and psychotic
conditions some referring patients to mental health hospitals. Psychiatrists
generally favour both the analytical and chemical approach to solve a
person's problem. Often drugs have to be prescribed if a person is not
responding to therapy and seems to be getting worse. Don't expect
any fast cures from psychiatry. Treatment times can last years depending how
bad things are.
Psychotherapy: Performed by someone who usually
has a degree or high qualification in mental health. Many treatment
models are employed and generally tend to be what the therapist has been
taught at college. No drugs are prescribed unless the therapist has the
qualifications to do so. Expect plenty of exploration into your past with
the idea that it can explain or unlock your problem. Treatments generally
are around a year or so but some psychotherapists work a lot faster.
Generally a psychotherapist will use a model of therapy which they believe
will help. Don't expect any quick fixes with this one either
especially if its N.H.S.
Counseling: Performed by someone who has some
professional training such as a diploma. Great for getting
something off your chest or something that as been bottled up but don't
expect any real advice other than sympathetic listening. Helps with loss and
bereavement and other traumas but the counselor will typically offer no help
other than listening to what you say. Many people I see go to counselors
first and then come to me to get the problem dealt with when they become fed
up with just talking about it. Can be lengthy depending on the situation.
Counselors tend to be friendly and non judgmental. Can be very very helpful
in the short term.
Neuro Linguistic programming (N.L.P): Generally
performed by a lay person with no medical
background but someone who has attended training courses in NLP and is considered to be
competent in the field. If performed by a competent practitioner good
results can be achieved in all areas of human difficulties from phobia cures
to stopping smoking. Touted as the best thing since sliced bread it
certainly is impressive when it works. There are many different techniques
in the NLP tool box each one said to help with something. They can seem slightly quirky techniques to
the lay person but who cares as long as your problem disappears! Treatment
can be between 30 minutes and a few sessions depending on the problem and
the skill of the practitioner. NLP is a massive industry today with many
facets as it is not just for treating people with emotional problems. Type
in NLP in Google and you'll see what I mean.
Hypnotherapy: Can be performed by both doctors or
a person who has undergone the required training to qualify as a
practitioner. Often the hypnotherapist uses a combination of NLP, counseling
and psychotherapy as well as hypnosis to bring about the clients desired
outcome. The hypnotherapist deals with most of the common neurotic
challenges people have these days such as stopping smoking, losing weight,
anxiety, depression, phobias and behavioral problems but not psychotic
conditions. The hypnotherapist tends to deal with mild to medium problems
that people have and if they cant help they will usually suggest that a
chemical treatment may be needed via the guidance of a doctor. Treatment
times are brief between 1 -10 sessions depending on the client and the
therapists methods.
TFT/EFT: Performed by someone who has formal
training in mental health and generally is already a mental health
professional such as hypnotherapist. Often used as an add on to their usual
therapy TFT/EFT can bring about miraculous results just by tapping on
certain pressure points on a person's body whilst they think about their
problem. If it works that's great if it doesn't it was worth a shot.
Generally the therapist who uses TFT/EFT has more tools in his/her bag
anyway if it doesn't. Treatments are generally one to two sessions and in my
experience yield a 60% success rate.
So there you have it a description albeit a brief one of
the therapies out there and what they do. I hope this helps you but if you
need any more information about any of the therapies above I always
recommend typing the therapy you want to know more about in Google as there's loads of
info out there.
