People from all walks of life decide to come for counselling and psychotherapy for a wide variety of reasons. Some people want to work through a specific issue, event or aspect of their life which is painful or troublesome, while others want to learn more about themselves in general and gain a deeper understanding of why they are as they are. Sometimes, we start therapy to look at one issue and end up learning many other things about ourselves and our relationships with others.
Counselling and psychotherapy are closely related and may overlap. Both treatments offer a confidential space to speak freely and confidentially within a therapeutic relationship but each has a slightly different aim. Generally, counselling usually deals with ‘the here and now’; something which is troubling you in your life, with a view to solving a problem or working through an issue or experience. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, usually deals with ‘there and then’; issues from your past which may be affecting your life, relationships and how you feel about yourself now. Psychotherapy allows you to explore deeper, underlying issues and tends to be longer-term or open-ended.
Anna Batcheler 