How to choose the right therapy for you?

These days there are a lot of different therapies or schools of thoughts with their own techniques and theories ranging from psychology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapies to holistic counselling, spiritual counselling and coaching. This list is far from being exhaustive! And aside from ‘talk therapies’ of course there are other modalities like hypnotherapy, emotional healing etc...

So how do you choose which therapy to try when looking for help to deal with emotional/mental or life issues?

As we all know that there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ so it is very individual and it may be a trial and error before you find the most suitable therapy.

So firstly, look at your circumstances and what you need help with? For example, if it is a diagnosed mental illness, then a professional like psychologist or psychiatrist that specialises in that area may be best.

If it is mostly emotional issues and the likes of anxiety, depression, relationship troubles then other therapies like psychotherapy and all other forms of counselling are suitable.

If you would like certain behaviours changed or for example address phobias/insomnia, then cognitive behavioural therapy may be beneficial in conjunction with other therapies or stand alone.

If you are looking for guidance on how to plan and proceed in life, say with career and other goals without digging in too deep, then coaching may do the job.

Secondly, evaluate your long-term commitment in terms of the effort you are willing to put in and your availability. How many sessions can you commit to on an ongoing basis? Will you have enough time for homework? For example, psychoanalysis requires more frequent sessions than other therapies and is more of a long-term therapy than say cognitive behavioural therapy.

Consider what goals you have for short term and long term, and match the goals to the right type of therapy.

Thirdly, talk to the practitioner to enquire about whether they can help you with your problem before making a decision. Remember that many practitioners may use different techniques to help their clients, and only by talking to them you can find out those details.

Always be prepared to try different therapies as some may help with some issues or challenges but not others, and mostly it is a trial and error to find what works best in the long run.

Remember that whatever you choose has to feel right to you regardless of what everyone thinks you should or shouldn’t be doing as you are the one the one who will be walking this path.

I hope that you found the above helpful and best of luck in your search and selection. Next week I will be talking about why choose Spiritual Counselling so stay tuned!