Counselling and psychotherapy are terms used interchangeably and mean a process which allows people or groups of people to discuss their problems and any difficult and confusing feelings in a safe and confidential environment with a qualified therapist.

The two terms, counselling and psychotherapy, can mean different things to different people, but in general it is a process people seek when they wany to change something in their lives or just want to explore their thoughts and feelings in more depth to understand themselves and gain more clarity about their lives.

The most important aspect of your therapy experience is the relationship you develop with your therapist. It is this relationship that will enable you to feel safe enough and encourage you to talk about what is bothering you in order to help uncover how you are really feeling and to identify your specific ways of thinking and coping with difficulties. Developing a connection with your therapist will enable you to understand yourself and the way you respond to life events.

Coming into counselling or psychotherapy will provide you with a safe environment in which you can explore and understand difficult feelings, confusion and anxiety.

Counselling

Counselling tends to be a shorter term therapy which can range from one session onwards. It can be for a set number of sessions – so sometimes for 6 sessions, 10 or 12 sessions or for as many as you and your therapist agree on. If it is decided to be longer term or open ended without a set end date, reviews can take place along the way to ensure it continues to be helpful.

Often individuals come into counselling because of an event which has happened and they wish to discuss it and understand how it has affected them. Therefore, that specific issue or problem may be the focus of the work and they may wish to come to a point where they can accept what has happened.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy tends to be a longer term therapy and can vary from just a few sessions to many sessions spanning over several months and even years. It is likely to be a far wider exploration of the individual and their life in the context of their life experiences.

This can allow the individual to gain a greater awareness of personality traits and patterns of relating which have developed in early life and have continued into adult life, thus allowing the working through and resolution of deeper seated difficulties.

What does it involve?

Counselling and psychotherapy are very personal processes and what happens in your therapy will be unique to you. However, there are some generally accepted practices;

each session lasts for 50 minutes
you will meet your therapist on the same day and at the same time each week, although this can be more often depending on you and your therapy
the number of counselling or psychotherapy sessions you have can vary depending on you and how much of yourself you wish to explore. So from a few sessions to several spanning a year or more

During the sessions you will be encouraged to talk as freely as you can about the things that are worrying you, your feelings, experiences, memories, dreams, fantasies and wishes. Your therapist will listen carefully to what you say and how you say it and will at times feed back his/her understanding to you.

Through the relationship with your therapist and the explorations of your feelings and your life, you can gain a greater insight into the contributing factors to your current difficulties, put into words, and come to terms with, past experiences and losses and generally feel understood and listened to.

This will allow you to increase your choices in your life, find your own voice and use your potential more fully.

The first appointment

When talking about personal difficulties we recognise the important of feeling comfortable with someone who will understand what you are conveying and who will respond in a way which will help you to understand yourself and help you to make sense of things. In fact we know that one of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect of therapy, is the relationship which develops between you and your therapist. It is this relationship which will enable you to think about areas of your life that you may never have thought about before.

With this in mind we offer an initial appointment or an 'assessment' appointment which will allow you to meet with a therapist and talk about the difficulties troubling you. This will give you a sense as to whether you feel therapy with this particular therapist could be helpful. It will also allow the therapist to begin to build a picture of you.

At the end of this initial appointment, your therapist will suggest you have a think about the session and what has been discussed. The therapist will give you her/his contact details to take away so if you feel it has been helpful and you would like to continue to see that therapist, you can contact them directly and arrange some ongoing appointments.

counselling in Colchester Essex.