Psychological Therapy

Psychological therapy is different from almost all other forms of therapy as it involves no physical contact between the therapist and the person receiving the therapy.

Therapy is also known by many different names, including Psychotherapy, counselling, counselling psychology, talking therapy, psychological counselling and so on.

The reality is that ALL types of psychological therapy are really social and relational interactions between two, or more, people where at least one of the people ‘identifies’ as a ‘psychotherapist’.

Today (2022) there are at least 400 different ‘types’ of psychological therapy each claiming to be superior to the others in some way or another or to be more ‘effective’ in helping people to overcome their problems.

Meta-analyses (the combination and analysis of many hundreds of different research papers) tends to show that nearly ALL psychological therapies are largely equivalent to each other with the quality of the relationship between MORE important than the method itself.

Benefits of Psychological Therapy

Psychological Therapy has numerous benefits, including:

Improved Mental Health: Therapy can help you develop the coping skills to deal with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

This can help You feel more in control of your emotions and improve your overall mental wellbeing.

Better Relationships: Psychological Therapy can also help you improve your relationships with others by developing better communication skills, setting boundaries and improving your ability to empathise with others.

Increased Self-awareness: Therapy can help you become more self-aware and gain a deeper understanding of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

This can help to identify negative patterns and work towards positive changes.

Stress Reduction: Therapy can teach you how to manage stress and reduce its impact on your life.

You will become more relaxed and better able to cope with daily challenges.

Improved Quality of Life: Psychological Therapy can help to improve the overall quality of your life by addressing issues that may be holding you back from achieving your goals.

Psychological Therapy Versus Medication

Psychological Therapy and medication both seek to alleviate mental health problems, but using very different models of mental distress.

We, in common with the British Psychological Society (BPS), consider that the mental health problems experienced today are the result of what has happened in the past.

Furthermore, it is what we believe our past experiences mean (to us) that produces the way that we feel about them.

This perspective is known as the Power Threat Meaning Framework.

The medical profession, on the other hand, tend to regard emotional distress and its presenting symptoms, as being due to faulty chemistry, usually in the brain.

This biomedical models of mental illness provide the rationale for prescribing medications that are claimed to address these chemical faults.

It is important to be aware, however, that medications are specifically designed to reduce the severity of symptoms rather than solve the underlying causes of mental health problems.

Overall, whilst medications can be very useful for helping people to cope with distress, Psychological Therapy is at least as, if not more, effective in the long term.

Which Psychological Therapy Approach is Most Effective?

Clinical evidence suggests that different people find different types of Psychological Therapy effective for different reasons.

Whilst the inventors of each new type of therapy often claim that their new system is “better” than the others, there is little evidence to support these claims.

In fact, clinical research suggests that the quality of the therapy relationship may be the most important factor in determining a good therapy outcome.

Here at Tranceform Psychology we tend to help people to overcome their mental health issues using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) because of it’s evidence-based approach.

What Happens During Psychological Therapy Sessions?

Psychological Therapy sessions involve exploring your feelings, understandings and coping strategies that you use to manage your problems.

We will treat you with positive regard and be non-judgemental about your problems or behaviours.

Effective Psychological Therapy should help you to think about your problems from different perspectives and explore why you attribute certain meanings to certain experiences.

Overall, a course of therapy should help you to come to terms with whatever has happened to you in the past as well as develop new and more adaptive coping strategies going forward.

Free Initial Consultations

We offer all prospective clients an initial consultation to discuss your problems prior to commencing any treatment plans.

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various options that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available as part of our online therapy service.

At Tranceform Psychology we recognise the importance of the therapeutic relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so its important to be able to ‘meet’ to discuss our change programmes BEFORE proceeding.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.