What therapies do I use in my counselling sessions?

I have trained in a number of therapies, including Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Person Centred Therapy. These therapies range from more cognitive therapy (such as CBT), which works with patterns of thinking, to more relationship based therapies (such as Psychodynamic Therapy and Person Centred Therapy) , which focuses on the healing relationship between the therapist and the client and relationships in the clients lives. I have also trained extensively in Mindfulness, and use Mindfulness a lot in my work as a therapist.

 The kind of therapy used with each client depends entirely on what the client is looking for from the counselling process, and will frequently be a blend of the above therapies.

CBT

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been used extensively over the last two decades. This approach focuses on thoughts, emotions, physical feelings and actions, and helps clients to explore how each one can have an affect on the other. It helps clients to identify what triggers negative thoughts and negative thinking patterns, and how these can be changed.

This is very important, as negative thinking patterns tend to keep us in negative states of mind, and thus in negative patterns of behaviours. CBT therapy also involves frequently collaborating with the client in designing exercises aimed at identifying and challenging negative thinking patterns between sessions, which maximises the use of work done during the sessions. Mindfulness has also been integrated into the CBT approach, and I use Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy in my work with clients.

 

Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic counselling stemmed from Psychoanalysis (developed by Sigmund Freud). It uses the therapeutic relationship, i.e. the relationship between the therapist and the client, to explore unconscious relationship patterns that have evolved since childhood. The relationship between therapist/counsellor and client in psychodynamic counselling is based on understanding, acceptance and empathy.

In this approach, focus tends to be on relationships between the client and other people in his life, and also on the relationship between the therapist and the client, with a view to becoming aware of how unconscious patterns formed in the past manifest in current relationship patterns. Psychodynamic therapy focuses on unconscious thought processes which express themselves in a client’s behaviour. The approach works on developing self-awareness and understanding of how the past has influenced present thoughts and behaviours, by exploring their unconscious roots, and exploring the past experiences of the client and how they affect the present.

In this approach clients are encouraged to talk about significant people and relationships in their life, and where appropriate, to explore unresolved issues and conflicts in their lives.

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Person Centred therapy

Person-centred therapy is primarily inspired by the ideas of Carl Rogers. It works on the idea that we all have within ourselves the resources necessary for our own personal growth and development. Three elements are seen as essential in this form of therapy: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. This approach to counselling and psychotherapy sees human beings as having a deep aspiration and tendency to develop towards their full potential. In this approach, therapists create a comfortable, non-judgmental environment by expressing congruence (genuineness), empathy, and unconditional positive regard toward their clients while using a non-directive approach. The therapist provides an environment in which the client does not feel under threat or judgement. This helps clients to develop and find their own solutions to their problems and enables the client to experience and accept more of who they really are as a person. This helps them reconnect with their own sense of self-worth and self acceptance, which helps them to grow as people and move forward in their lives. Person centred therapy is non-directive which means that clients keep control over the content and pace of the therapy

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Mindfulness
Mindfulness is currently being integrated into many areas of counselling and psychotherapy. It has been used has been used by many spiritual traditions, and is very effective to better positive mental health in our age. Through the use of mindfulness, we bring ourselves back to the present moment, and learn to observe how our ‘habit energies’ (i.e. our conditioned patterns) are manifesting in the present. This awareness gives us the possibility to change the way that we relate to these energies, and have more choice about whether we act on them or not. Mindfulness can be developed as a powerful tool in daily life to develop awareness of what is going on inside and around us, and can help us connect with the healing elements in ourselves and around us, without getting lost in thoughts about the past or the future. Counselling supports clients to explore and work through emotions and states of mind uncovered through the process of mindfulness practise. Mindfulness is also used in therapy sessions to bring the client back to what is going on in the here and now, both in the mind and in the body. This approach can help bring the client to a deeper place of well being, peace and self acceptance.