Helen Rowland - Skipton Counselling and Psychotherapy

When I google ‘counselling and psychotherapy’ in Harrogate I get approximately 72,000 results. How on earth do I find the right therapist for me?

This is a question I am asked on a regular basis. When people ring to make an enquiry about psychotherapy or counselling, they are trying to make a decision about whether or not I am the right therapist for them. They are usually trying to make this decision via email or over the telephone in a very short space of time and with very little information about me, how I practice or knowing what they really want to get from visiting a therapist.

There is a complex unspoken process going on here:

What should I ask about your qualifications?

How much do I need to know about your background?

Is your type of therapy important or not?

All of the important research suggests that the most important curative factors in psychotherapy and counselling are:

the quality of the relationship between the client and the therapist

the belief of the therapist in their particular model and their ability to help you

There is only one way to find out if the person listed in google fits this criteria, and that is by using your intuitive capacities to decide whether or not this person is someone you can trust and make a relationship with.

This is why I often suggest to potential clients that they do some ‘therapy shopping’: check out two or three therapists to ensure that they have suitable training and qualifications and then arrange a one-off session with them all. You choose the therapist who feels that they ‘fit’ with you, and that means the person that you feel you are most able to work successfully with rather than the person who sells you the best product.

Harrogate is a wonderful place to shop. Especially when you are shopping for a therapist.

Tags: General, help

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 9:10 pm and is filed under General, Psychotherapy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.