How To Find The Right Psychotherapist in London Finding a psychotherapist is
not
an
easy
task,
especially in a big city like London. After taking the step
of
courage
of
realising you need help and deciding you can’t carry
on
alone,
finding
suitable help becomes the next challenge. The
search
for
a
psychotherapist London is not the same as finding a personal trainer, or a gym, or a music teacher. Psychotherapy is a complex and intense experience, as the process of being helped in psychotherapy can be unsettling and painful. So finding a suitable therapist should not be undertaken as a light endeavour. You want to find someone you can trust and feel comfortable enough to open up to, but at the same time who is suitably qualified and experienced to be able to bear with you the most disturbing parts of yourself and help you deal with whatever you bring to the sessions. There are many ways of finding psychotherapists these days. Whilst the classical ways of asking for a friend’s indication or a referral from you doctor are still very useful, more and more people are now relying on the Internet to find a psychotherapist in London. However, this can be even more challenging, as where with an indication there is a degree of trust that weighs in the fact that a trusted person is referring to the professional, the Internet is impersonal and pretty much anyone can be found there, regardless of experience or proper qualification. It is then that some research needs to be done. A good way of approaching the search of a psychotherapist London via the Internet is to try and find out if the therapist is accredited or registered with a professional body. The main professional bodies that regulate counselling or psychotherapy in the UK are: BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy); UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy); BPS (British Psychological Society); BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council). Being accredited or registered with such organisations means that the psychotherapist has undertaken a thorough training, receives regular supervision of a senior
therapist, is enrolled in continuous professional development and abides by the professional body’s Ethical guidelines. You often can check the professional body’s register to reassure that the psychotherapist is indeed registered and accredited. Another aspect to be considered when searching for a psychotherapist London is regarding what sort of theoretical approach the therapist follows. There are many types of therapies, from psychodynamic/psychoanalytic to integrative, CBT, core process psychotherapy, etc. It’s important to do some research about the approaches in order to find out what you would think would suit you best. This is of course difficult, and no one is expected to know an awful lot about the theories behind the type of psychotherapy being provided. However, it doesn’t hurt to know a little bit, to make an informed decision. Ultimately, after checking the credentials and knowing a bit about what you want, going for an initial consultation will help you gauge how you feel with the therapist. A certain degree of anxiety is normal and even expected, as first meetings can be nerve wrecking. However, going for an initial consultation in psychotherapy is an opportunity to experience first hand how psychotherapy feels like, and the psychotherapist should also be able to help you make sense of what you need and want as well as to think if the services offered are indeed the best suitable option for your needs. Help will come as the psychotherapist works with you to make conscious what may still be hidden in regards to your feelings, beliefs, patterns of behaviour and relationships. By providing a safe space to think and promote understanding, the psychotherapist will help you organise the bits of yourself that may still be messed up by the experienced in your life.