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How to find the right therapist
There are a large number of therapists who work with a variety of methods. How will you choose someone who is right for you? The first thing you should consider is whether you want to see a counselor or a psychotherapist. What's the difference? Counseling is usually short to medium term (from a few sessions to a year or so) and is intended to help you resolve a current difficulty in your life in order to end it as quickly as possible. However, psychotherapy is often a longer process that addresses the underlying difficulties that you may be experiencing for much of...
How to find the right therapist
There are a large number of therapists who work with a variety of methods. How will you choose someone who is right for you? The first thing you should consider is whether you want to see a counselor or a psychotherapist. What's the difference?
- Die Beratung ist in der Regel kurz- bis mittelfristig (von einigen Sitzungen bis zu einem Jahr oder so) und soll Ihnen helfen, eine aktuelle Schwierigkeit in Ihrem Leben zu lösen, um sie so schnell wie möglich zu beenden.
- Psychotherapie ist jedoch oft ein längerer Prozess, der sich mit den zugrunde liegenden Schwierigkeiten befasst, die Sie möglicherweise für einen Großteil Ihres Lebens beunruhigt haben.
It is sometimes said that if you have a problem in life then you go to a counselor, but if life is your problem then you see a psychotherapist?
Once you have decided between counseling and psychotherapy, you can consider who you would like to see. The first thing to say is that it's okay to shop around, in fact I would encourage it. Many therapists offer a free first session, and even if you have to pay, it's probably money well spent finding the right person for you.
You may want to start by compiling a list of therapists you can contact. Probably the best place to come up with names is among friends and family. Find out if they have received counseling or psychotherapy themselves, and if so, has their therapist helped? Add them to the list. Then it gets a little trickier because everyone else will be more of an unknown size.
One way to know that the person you are about to see is properly trained is to visit the professional associations to which all reputable therapists belong. For counselors this is BCAP and for psychotherapists this is UKCP. Their websites contain a Find a Therapist link to help you locate those closest to you.
You may also want to consider the different types of therapy available, as some may suit you better than others. Although there are many approaches that can be effective, the most commonly used are humanistic, psychodynamic, and cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT):
- Humanistische Therapeuten sind oft „wärmer“, da sie die Entwicklung Ihres natürlichen Potenzials für psychische und emotionale Gesundheit fördern sollen.
- Psychodynamische Therapeuten sind oft etwas „cooler“, können aber hilfreich sein, um zu verstehen, wie sich Ihre aktuellen Schwierigkeiten auf frühere Lebenserfahrungen beziehen.
- CBT-Therapeuten sind möglicherweise kooperativer und helfen Ihnen, schwierige Gefühle zu bewältigen, indem sie klarer denken und sich anders verhalten.
However, there is evidence that the quality of the therapeutic relationship, rather than the therapist's method, is the strongest predictor of likely success. So when you finally meet the therapists on your list, trust your gut reactions. You should feel comfortable, but not cozy - and feel that you can trust this person, but also that they can challenge you when needed.
Alternative practitioner psychotherapy
The best place to find alternative practitioners psychotherapy is in our free alternative practitioner directory. To view all alternative psychotherapy practitioners, please click here.