How to choose a Counsellor?

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It’s a personal decision to choose a counsellor, and they are relatively easy to find. However, this is one of the most personal decisions you will make, so its important to find the best one for you. Science shows that when the therapeutic relationship’s right, therapy can literally rewire the brain to create stronger, healthier neural network connections, and that’s when we start to see real, positive changes take place.

The following questions, are things to consider:

  1. Do you want to quickly solve symptoms? e.g. you’ve been feeling anxious at work and you want to learn quick, workable tools to put into action when anxiety takes hold
  2. Is gender a concern? some people will feel more comfortable with a female discussing intimate matters
  3. Someone who shares a common language, and perhaps has an understanding of your culture
  4. Would you be happy with sessions where the therapist is mostly silent, or do you want interaction?
  5. How much are you happy to pay?
  6. Do you want to focus on an immediate problem or something that happened?
  7. Would you prefer your therapist to be a similar age to you, older, or younger?
  8. Would you prefer face to face counselling or video or telephone?
  9. What’s the counsellor’s general philosophy and approach to helping? Does your counsellor approach human beings in a compassionate and optimistic way?
  10. Does the therapist have experience helping others with the particular issues for which you are seeking therapy? The more experience therapists have addressing a particular issue, concern, or problem area, the more expertise they have developed
  11. Get a vague overview of the different approaches

According to research its all about the relationship between you and the therapist. In fact, the research shows that the most determining factor in the success of therapy is actually the relationship you build with your therapist. This is regardless of your therapist’s experience or the type of approach they use.

People go to therapy for a whole bunch of different reasons. In fact, that’s one of the reasons there are so many different types of therapy, each focused around approaching issues in a different way. Whatever your reasons are, spending a bit of time getting clearer on what it is you’re looking to get out of your time in therapy will set you up perfectly for the next important step. Here at J&P we offer a free 20 minute consultation to give you an opportunity to meet our practitioners before going ahead with any therapy.

If you need help or advice, our counselors at J&P are here to help get you back to health. Contact us to book an appointment, get advice or to find out more.

0151 345 6823 – Office Number [email protected] – Office email