How do you find a good counsellor, what type do you look for and can you get it on the NHS

[fairyfly]

Any ideas?

where do you live ff?
In London there is an organisation called Metanoia... which trains psychotherapists... and they ask for a donation (whatever you think you can afford).

NHS waiting lists tend to be huge... but go via your doctor and they will advise.

(If you want to know any more re Metanoia cat me)

No where near london, i will cat you anbout that thanks, i haven't a clue about these things

You can get counselling on the NHS, but would most probably be with a counsellor attached to your GP practice - i.e. you wouldn't have a great deal of choice. You might also be able to get helpful counselling from Relate - I think payment for them is meanstested so if you've not got much cash then you wouldn't have to pay. If what you want to discuss

the main types of counselling I have come across (tho I am sure that there are more(!))are inner child therapy and CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy). personally I found that inner child therapy wasn't my cup of tea - approach was - look back to bad experiences when you were young, and tell yourself at age 5 what you would have wanted to hear at age 5 - I found that it dredged up bad memories without giving me the tools to deal with them IYSWIM. CBT is far more positively based - although you would talk about your past experiences, that would just be a context, and you would focus on thinking more positively about your reactions to things now, and having a realistic view of yourself, and being able to put negative people/criticism in its appropriate place.

Think there is a website for british association of counsellors and therapists that people have recommended in the past. I only have experience of looking for private psychotherapists rather than counsellors, tho.

HTH

Thanks

Go to your GP, who should be at least able to give you the names of the councellors that the practise refer patients to. Then, if the waiting list is very long, see if one of those councellors will see you privately. It might be that they do x hours per week for the NHS and spend the rest of their time seeing patients privately, rather than working solely for the NHS (a mum at school is a therapist who does this). If the GP recommends one, you know they are properly qualified/accredited etc. You should be able to get several sessions on the NHS, but, as unicorn says, there may be a long waiting list.
The type you look for I suppose depends on what issues you want to discuss, eg post natal depression, bereavment etc.
hth.

I will make an appointment for my gp tomorrow and see how that works out, cheers

Contact your local branch of MIND. They can give you a list of counsellers and may also be able to offer you free counselling with their own qualified counsellors.

or you could email me!
im a good listener and might be sharing similar experiences/problems

Hello! I can see you have had lots of advice already but thought you'd like to know about the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy's site , which has some useful info about finding a therapist and can put you in touch with someone in your area. This site is also useful. If you want someone to talk to in confidence you can ring Saneline on: 0845 767 8000 12noon to 2am daily: they have an up-to-date database which covers whole of UK to help access services incl places offering low-cost therapy.
good luck. Therapy made a huge positive difference to my life.

Thanks for all the info, thats a lovely offer mia

FF - have you managed to get to your doctor yet? I saw mine today and has referred CBT therapy, so I am on a waiting list. He said it is hard to come by, but is available on the NHS, although how long the waiting list is depends on the area I suppose. Hope you are ok.

No didn't manage today will try and get to the surgery tomorrow, im fine thanks, just have a few issues i want to sort out.

Iwaited about 6mths for CBT. Found it gave me some coping mechanisms for anixety but i still have real problems with depression. Now seeing a councellor privately- a friend of a friend- and we have an agreement that she does the counselling and I weed her garden!! Couldn't afford to pay privatly! There is an organisation called the Phillipi Trust ( who I'm sure have a website)that offer counselling and ask you to pay what you can afford.Waiting lists are rediculas in the NHS, I'm sure they don't realise the seriousness of depression!

I've had some CBT - I found it really useful because it wasn't so much about contemplating my navel IFYKWIM as looking at patterns of (negative) behaviour and coming up with ways of altering it.
British Association of Cognitive Behavourial Therapists

how are you feeling today?

I'm fine thanks, still not done it though, keep putting it off. Will try tomorrow, how are you?

ff - good luck. My GP was completely brilliant and put me onto a counsellor straight away - he was attached to the surgery. She said there were also local groups that ran subsidised counselling too. I know it's scary, but grit your teeth and make the call.

Also, please don't make the mistake I did. I was very vulnerable and lacking in confidence when I first went to my counsellor. I thought that I was not a very good communicator and not able to express myself clearly etc. Deep down I probably always knew that the truth was that I just didn't get on with this particular counsellor, but I was too down on myself to admit that it might be something other than a massive character failing of mine! Eventually I figured it out and stopped seeing him. I think counselling is brilliant (I learnt and developed a lot, even though he wasn't right for me) and would do it again, but next time I would reject the counsellor after the first session if I didn't feel 100% comfortable.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip, to be honest i'll be amased if i feel comfortable with anyone with the kind of thing that is bothering me, but we will see. It can't be that bad if all these people on here rave about it.

feeling better today as was out all day yesterday(dd fell asleep 5.15 halloween, woke up 4AM! in morn) didnt want her to have nap too early so me and dp took her to playgroup till 12, she then slept and i went to normal monday 'jollybabies' play group, had drink and cake with friend afterwards, then dp picked me up, we went home to get changed and went to other friends late halloween party! dd was shatterd coming home at 6.30 and went stright to sleep with no time for bath!
she slept till5am, then went back off till 7ish, so i got a decent sleep..makes a lot of difference doesnt it?

if you do wana chat(you sound like you have something really bothering you?)cat me, it might help talking privatly to someone impartial with 'no face' to look at?x

It makes a huge difference Mia, hope you get the same tonight, sounds like a lovely day

Thanks Mia, you also. It's just a weird situation i want to come to terms with my relationships with men, before i get on a downward spiral of doing stupid things. I fancy counselling so i can talk about my attitudes towards sex etc. So there you go, all a bit private, even though i just POSTED IT ON THE INTERNET.

Just nipping through this thread to say I had CBT and I wasn't sure about it at all at the time, but I'm a lot happier and - honestly - saner than before I had it.

I think i will just get whatever is free and they have, hope its not a granny from church baking me cookies and saying there there dear

try calling into local family planning place, they will prob have leaflets on all sorts of issues in your area?hth