How to find a good therapist

[legophoenix]

Have had up and down moods/anxiety/depression my whole life.

10 years ago I started taking antidepressants and it was like I finally felt normal. I no longer felt like I was on the verge of anger or tears all the time, or swept up in the insane excitement of a new relationship/hobby etc. I really felt like my moods were stable and that I could function normally in life.

I've been on and off the ADs since then. At my last doctors appointment he suggested that I now try talking therapy after a good solid 6 months of AD.

I contacted a local psychology centre where they have various different therapists. I told them the above and they assigned me to someone. I've had 3 x sessions. The first one we talked a lot about my childhood and it was quite upsetting and triggering. I personally feel this is something that I need to talk about more - I want to talk about it and I want to understand things that happened to me and why it might affect me currently. But at the end of the session he said that we would be doing CBT for the anxiety. The next two sessions there was a lot of talk about what CBT is, what anxiety is, how it works and about rethinking situations etc. I am willing to give it a try but I just don't think it's going to help my situation. I've read lots about it in the past and I can understand how it can help with anxieties, phobias etc but I'm feeling frustrated in the sessions as it seems like a lot of waffle and then I pay a large amount (which I can't really afford).

To make things worse he has cancelled sessions for the last two weeks so there has been no flow to this and I feel I'll almost be starting again next time.

Would I be unreasonable to stop the sessions and find someone else? What sort of person am I looking for?

I know I should give it more of a try but I really can't afford to be carrying on when I'm not finding it helpful at all.

Absolutely fine to move on, and sounds like it would be for the best. Have you used the UKCP and BACP websites to find accredited therapists in your area? Definitely speak on the phone first and ask them about their approach. Some give a 20-30 min free introductory appt so that you can see if they feel right.

This article is quite helpful, but USA-based:
How to

The podcast Conversations with Annalisa Barbieri is really good. She talks to different therapists on various topics:

open.spotify.com/episode/4tZKnXqtHXtagphCMcazsU?si=_2KfOkzfT5ykUabEEaZxqg

Thank you so much.

From reading the different types of therapy in that link, I think psychoanalysis is what would suit me best (for the time being anyway).

Great thank you I've saved that podcast 👍🏼

Thank you - so I think I need to find someone registered with UKCP.

I’d read a bit more about psychoanalysis before deciding. It’s very expensive and generally long term. Psychotherapy may be a more realistic starting point.

This might be helpful:

Psychodynamic

My experience is that it isn’t as black and white as this post suggests. The relationship with your therapist has been shown to be key, and you could find a very insightful and experienced therapist on BACP. Psychologists, at least privately, do not restrict themselves to severe illness, but deal with a lot of moderate depression and anxiety.

Always check registers, the ones mentioned or HCPC for Psychologists. Unfortunately there are lots of unscrupulous people out there who set up practices with little training. Psychologist is not a protected title so anyone can call themselves that. Go with qualifications and then good therapeutic fit which is also important. Hope you find someone x

Previous posts are a bit misleading.

Clinical psychologists CAN work with severe mental health problems but can also work with a wide variety of difficulties and clients. They may use structured therapies but many use an integrative approach, drawing on psychodynamic Therapies alongside other techniques. This qualification requires a doctoral level clinical training, which is higher than the training needed to be a psychotherapist. It also means clinical psychologists have a broad training allowing them to select the most appropriate therapy for the client (and this may change through the course of therapy) rather than just using the only one they know for everyone (eg psychoanalysis).

Thanks that's very interesting.

So I checked on the website and this persons job title is CBT counsellor. I really feel that I've been sent to the wrong person by the admin team. Not sure how to address it. I signed a contract with them for 6 sessions but I'm not sure if it means I'd incur a charge if I stopped before then.

Just send an email cancelling all future appointments. Could say that the repeated cancelled appointments have led you to reconsider. I’d be amazed if they objected.

You’re completely wrong about BACP. You need to have trained at an accredited training school and been in personal therapy throughout. Also need a certain number of hours of counselling experience post qualification to get on the register.

CBT is not particularly helpful for deep seated issues. It’s a bit of a surface fix. Learning to see situations in a different way . If you have complex childhood issues he is the wrong person.

You’re completely wrong about BACP. You need to have trained at an accredited training school and been in personal therapy throughout. Also need a certain number of hours of counselling experience post qualification to get on the register.

The BACP has been tightening up the past few years but there are definitely people on the register who have years of experience because they got on it before the changes and who aren't..people to recommend. I know this because at least one trained the year above me (20 days over 2 years) and joined immediately upon finishing the course while I was still training. I didn't join because I realised the training wasn't enough to be safe.

There will be some very good therapists on there, with good training, but it's not true that everybody has the same/similar training background.

Oh and on our course we had 3 sessions of personal therapy the first year and 3-4 the second year as our requirement. If you've done therapy you'll know that's merely an introduction!

When did these changes come in? I did some training six years ago and the requirements then were for everyone to be in therapy weekly throughout their training. Yes, there are many pretty poor people on the register despite this, but the standards for training are more rigorous than other courses, such as those at Colleges.

Agree the UKCP is a better standard than BACP.

@OP

If you are looking for psychodynamic, psychoanalytic therapy or full psychoanalysis then you need someone registered with the BPC www.bpc.org.uk/ which is the regulator did this type of therapy.

To be registered with the BPC means you have done a rigorous training and your own personal therapy.

The BPC website allows you to search for therapists in your area.

Thank you everyone. I have emailed so waiting to hear what they say.

This isn’t accurate. BACP membership has a number of different levels. To be a registered member, therapists are required to undergo a number of years of rigorous training and personal therapy as well as many hours (some trainings specify 100) of supervised and supported clinical practice before they can be registered members of the BACP. Membership also holds therapists accountable to a stringent, frayed fly updated. and carefully constructed ethical code. Accredited members, furthermore, are required to have at least
450 hours supervised clinical practice. See www.bacp.co.uk/membership/registered-membership/ for more details. UKCP membership might sometimes indicate more training within an institution (though not necessarily) but BACP registration and especially accreditation indicate a good or higher level of training, experience, professional values and responsibility.

There's also a website called find my psychologist which only lists registered psychologists