What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy (often shortened to ‘therapy’) is a form of talking therapy - a process that aims to help people to understand and process emotional challenges. Psychotherapy usually takes the form of a 50-minute session, where you work with a trained Psychotherapist to discuss your current thoughts and issues.
What types of therapy are there?
There are many types of psychotherapy, which use different approaches to uncover and discuss personal problems. Although this may seem overwhelming, all forms of therapy use common principles. One commonality is the “therapeutic alliance”, which describes the importance of the relationship between the client (the person seeking therapy) and the therapist. This relationship is used as a foundation to bring beneficial change to the client.
It is worth trying different approaches to see which best fits with you. Embarking on therapy can be a scary and challenging experience, but ultimately can provide extremely rewarding and lasting effects.
Some of the most common types are:
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis
Counselling
Gestalt Psychotherapy
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
Humanistic Psychotherapy
Integrative Psychotherapy
Existential Psychotherapy
How much does therapy cost?
The price of Psychotherapy will be dependent on a number of factors; where you live, how experienced the therapist is, the modality (type) of therapy, and whether it is through a private practitioner, company, or charity.
Typical ranges for a private therapist in the UK is from £40 upwards, with the average price in London around £70-120 for a 50-minute session. Most therapists will start seeing clients once per week, although this can vary within different modalities. Similarly, some therapists offer what is called ‘short term’ work (6-12 sessions), and others prefer to work long-term/open-ended.
If you cannot afford private therapy, there are a number of charities and organisations that offer free or low-cost therapy. Please see the next section for a list of these.
Where do I start?
If you are ready to explore therapy you can find a number of places where private psychotherapists are listed. The benefit of this is that you can approach therapists directly. Additionally, many organisations offer psychotherapy with one of their team of therapists. The benefit of this is that you have some assurance of quality and a method of support should the session not go as expected.
Some useful resources are:
Accrediting Body Directories:
UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy) https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/find-a-therapist/
BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
British Psychoanalytic Council https://psychoanalytic-council.org/find-a-therapist.html
BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies) https://www.cbtregisteruk.com/
ACP (Association for Child Psychotherapists) https://childpsychotherapy.org.uk/resources-families/find-child-psychotherapist
Organisations:
I work at The School of Life which has a private Therapy Service. The service offers individual and couple psychotherapy, and a range of other specialisms starting from £115 per session:
The School of Life https://www.theschooloflife.com/for-individuals/therapy/
A number of other organisations follow similar models.
Charities and Low-Cost Options:
NHS IAPT Service (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/