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- Psychotherapy
- Transactional Analysis
- Counselling
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About Counselling
What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
My understanding of the difference between the two is that counselling works more in the 'here and now', ie discussing a current difficulty and looking at options for resolving it. Psychotherapy looks much more at the past, why familiar difficulties recur over and over again, how we became who we are and how we can make deep, long lasting changes in order to live a more authentic, full life.
Generally speaking (though this is not a rule by any means), counselling is more likely to be a short-term intervention than psychotherapy. I am experienced in working in both the short-term (6-8 weeks) and with long-term clients (12-18 months, and all points in between).
What is Transactional Analysis?
TA is a model of pschotherapy that has at its heart three principles:
- I'm ok/you're ok (both the therapist and the client are equal in being deserving of respect and sharing responsibility for the work),
- everyone can think (ie take responsibility for their decisions) and
- people decide their own destiny (and these decisions can be changed).
TA also offers a model of understanding how we communicate with each other, a theory of child development and a theory of personality. Taken together, TA provides a powerful impetus for change and personal development.
One of the things that I love most about TA is that it is a contractual model, ie the client and the therapist work together to agree about what is going to happen in the work. I won't tell you what to do, but in a warm, supporting environment I will help you decide what you want and how to get what you want comfortably and easily.
Furthermore, I most fervently believe that the real work of therapy is done in the relationship between myself and the client. In an atmosphere of mutual warmth and respect, the client is able to grow and realise his/her own strengths, confront difficulties and live a life full of possibilities. |
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