OP I am really glad you posted ( and an opinion)
Opinion; I would never go back to either of those “therapists” again. Just send a test that it didn’t feel right for you, there was no time to establish ”in relationship in the room and it was too much too soon for you and simply a style mismatch and close politely.
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Here are some facts about the U.K. and therapy that scare the hell out of me so I refuse to work as a PhD Psychoanalyst here . Let me explain why, and provide some links for backup
in the country I was educated ted in a minimum 4 year BS in psychology and also the compulsory coursework in actual therapeutic practicum of a heat whereby you were the patient and a Doctor who was one of the Department Heads was your therapist for 1 session per week during term time, concurrently you as a student has 2 clients a week under the guidance of a supervisory therapist, I can’t see any lesser way because sticking your fingers in a stramger’s mental health, thoight patterns or even a serious PD an uneducated person know what he is dealing with. After you pass your uni, before you can even offer a session, you must pass a rest after be licensed at the Federal level, a member in good standing with the AMA and pass the license requirement for every place you plan to practice in. (of course there are many, different therapeutic modalities and specialisms) these are just the requirements for a garden variety therapist. Unless all the therapist wants to do is marriage counselling, the majority of the newly minted therapists go on to specialise which is usually personal to them and is usually a patient population and diagnosis or suspected diagnosis aka young adults presenting around 16 with bipolar. They may see other types of clients but that could be a interest personal to them for some reason. In fact it is a good idea to get into a practice if that’s your career aspiration fulfilled because: if you aren’t a psychiatrist you can’t prescribe medication nor can you make a diagnosis yourself.
I didn’t stop there I carried on because I fell in love with different specialities and needed to dig deeper. I knew child psych was not for me. Maybe Moral? Social? Psycholopathology? Back to university for 2 more years. There are about 20 fields, didn’t list mine here asa red herring, now the question becomes what is the best technique/ modalities for treating these clients, did I believe it? And most clients think their problem is X. Turns out the trauma Z is casual and X is merely the physical manifestation.
When I received my Doctorate I think I had to take 4 more governmental exams to receive further licenses etc. It keeps me comfortable that this clinical treatment is overseen, and regulated by the government and medical boards that can disbar bad therapists.
OP like you I need feed back when I am the client. It has to feel like a dialogue. It’s a very personal relationship. All therapists WILL ask you family history but anyone who tries to get to the minutiae of your childhood trauma is completely unacceptable.
The usual process is for an hour free session to see if you can work together. I feel this is completely necessary because if we chose to work together I will know everything about you metaphorically stripped to the skin, you trust me with your life and work TOGETHER to resolve past issues and chart your future to wherever you desire. My personal style is a synthesis of 'Rogerian ' and 'Jungian' approaches, working therapeutically through the relationship. My primary focus is upon us creating a safe and strong enough container to allow you to do whatever inner work you need us to do to heal you. Rogers was the originator of the Person-Centered Approach, which encompasses more than therapy and has, in recent years, become very popular in humanistic circles. His fundamental model suggested that as a bare minimum, and perhaps all that was needed, for people to heal themselves, was a radically genuine and respectful way of relating. Authenticity and a relationship of unconditional positive regard have emerged since then as the 'sine qua non' of therapeutic relating. Indeed these days psychotherapists of all traditions accept that the quality of the relationship is primary in successful therapeutic outcomes. I was trained as a ‘Rogerian’ and have worked with this ethos for all of my professional life.
Carl Jung was a disciple of Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. He disagreed with Freud, particularly over the nature and function of dreams and struck out on his own. After many years his experiences with his own psyche and investigations into others led him to develop what is now often referred to as depth psychology.
Here is the punchline a very sad one. The U.K. requires no education, has no regulatory for therapists of any kind. If you’re bored this afternoon paint a sign that says “Marriage Counsellor “ stick it out front and you’re a therapist.
From Tavistock:
“Clinical” or “Counselling Psychologist” title is professionally restricted which means it's illegal for anyone not properly qualified to call themselves a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist. Psychotherapist – a blanket term given to anyone who treats psychological distress through some kind of non-medicine therapy.
Wikipedia
Counselling in the United Kingdom
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In the United Kingdom, counselling is not under statutory regulation, and is overseen and supported by several organisations, none of which are officially recognised by the government.
National regulation[edit]
In 2007 the Health Professions Council (HPC), which is independent of any professional body, released a white paper, Trust Assurance and Safety – The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century, which said that the Government intended to introduce statutory regulation for psychotherapists and counsellors.
The HPC set up a working group of stakeholders, known as a Professional Liaison Group, to consider and make recommendations to the HPC about how psychotherapists and counsellors might be regulated, in light of the statements made in the white paper. The HPC held a public consultation on the PLG recommendations, which ran for three months in 2009. Following the consultation, the PLG was reconvened and had its last meeting on 2 February 2011.
In February 2011, the Government published a command paper, Enabling Excellence, which set out the coalition government's policy on professional regulation. The paper outlined a system of what it called "assured voluntary registration" and said that in the future statutory regulation will only be considered where there is a "compelling case", and where "voluntary registers are not considered sufficient to manage this risk".[1] Later that month, the HPC's Chief Executive Marc Seale wrote to Anne Milton MP, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, seeking clarification of the coalition government's policy on the statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors.
At its meeting on 31 March 2011 the Council discussed the response received from Anne Milton MP. The letter said: "...it is not currently our intention to proceed with statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors".[1]
What is available and more terrifying is that all these non educated , non licensed hell I will call them clubs which also have 0 oversight by the Royal College of Medicine or any government office not even PHE they just elect their own member as the head of the club and if you learn the secret handshake voila you are now sanctioned by them.
I can give you a list of questions to ask any future prospective therapists to try to keep you as safe and comfortable as possible.