quootiepie, it appears that you have a few things (very) wrong.
november, therapy is not for people that have something 'mentally wrong' with them.
counselling and psychotherapy as defnitions are broadly interchangeable. having said that there is a recognition that psychotherapists tend to have had a longer and more rigorous training (although that is not always the case) and that therapy tends to be longer term and goes into things at more depth (again that is not always the case).
there are appalling NHS therapists/counsellors as much as private ones.
there is free counselling available on the NHS but it tends to be shorter term and often cognitive behavioural (this is a model that deals with things from a thought/behaviour patterns point of view rather than looking at the reasons why things are happening). it can be effective, especially in removing symptoms of, for eg. phobias, but many argue that there are limits to it's efficacity due to the fact that nothing is tackled in any depth.
one of the reasons that it is so widely offered on the nhs is that it follows a more medical model than many other modalities. it is also cheaper due to being time limited.
the advantages of going private are that you can really shop around for a therapist and get recommendations. if you think about how much time and effort people go to to get the right hairdresser it is just awful that people settle for the first counsellor/therapist they come across
however, private therapy can be expensive (although people that have recently completed training often offer lower cost £20-25 p.h for eg).
depending on the area that you live in, you may be able to access low/no cost therapy, although in the main agencies tend to ask for some contribution based on income.
MIND offer low cost counselling but often have long waiting lists, as do many other agencies.
if you CAT me telling me where you live, I will try to find somewhere that do low cost counselling for you.