Where do you get therapy?

[useranon12]

Sorry I may be asking this question in the wrong place but hope someone can help , how do I go about getting a therapist like a really good one that can help me deal with some past traumas and help me figure out what I want/need . Do they cost an arm and a leg 😖

I've just started therapy, £50 a session and it's weekly.

I was pretty desperate and just wanted to start.

I think most therapists will reduce rates if you are on a lower income x

I use counselling directory. The prices vary but realistically a good one will cost, yes. Mine is £80ph, my friend pays £150!

Counselling directory or BACP website

With counselling directory you can filter by postcode so you can get one close to you

A lot of charities like Mind/Womens centres will do low cost therapy - not many private therapists will be able to (I don't, though I have seen students in training at a lower cost)

Good luck with your search

In the city where I live there is a charity in which counsellors volunteer. They ask for donations. There are other charities in which trainee counsellors put in a certain amount of hours for free (I think in order to become qualified, or move to the next level of qualification, I'm n).

Posted too soon. I'm not sure, but they're not absolute beginner counsellors. So there may be cheaper options, depending in where you live, but I think around £50 per hour is the going rate otherwise.

Lots of good directories such as Counselling Directory and Psychology Today. Make sure the counsellor has a professional accreditation with UKCP, BACP or NCS though (as anyone can call themselves a counsellor).

I recommend Counselling Directory because the filters allow you to narrow down what you are looking for.

Look at profiles, read their websites, arrange calls with a few to see if you feel you can connect with them. You don’t have to go with the first one you try.

I disagree that a counsellor has to be accredited, but they do need to be qualified and preferably a member of a professional body (“accredited” and “qualified” aren’t the same thing!).

I googled it, had a few initial chats and selected mine via that really. They charge according to salary band, the more you earn the more you pay and vise versa. You really need to stick to it and it can add up cost wise, but gosh I am so glad I started my Therepy

How do you know what type of therapist to choose? Im put off by counsellors as they can't give advice and just listen. They seem not to initiate the conversation either and just ask you how you are. I need something more analytical to help explain things but is that then mega bucks?

Classic analysts will leave you to start things and won’t give much back. A good humanistic therapist might be better but if avoid someone who is purist person centred because they can sit back a bit too. If you know someone who has been in therapy it’s worth asking - most if my clients come through word of mouth.

OP if you want to deal with past trauma I’d look for a qualified therapist rather than somewhere using students, you need someone with a bit of experience behind them.

Hi , thank you for the advice really helpful. It's something I am definitely doing for my self it's been a long time coming. If I set £500 to spend to start and do roughly 10 weeks and go from there. I will be looking I to this more coming weeks . I have past trauma alcoholic mother and dealing with parents issues when to young and now I am now going through a break up and I need to figure alot of stuff out. I asked a colleague today about this and to my surprise she knew all about getting a therapist and said it was best thing she done which was lovely to hear x

You could also check if your work has an Employee Assistance Program. You can get free confidential counselling through that. It can be a good place to start in terms of working out what style of therapy/therapist might suit you.

I've done the NHS free therapy in the past, the waiting list was very long and tbvh the therapists were not very good. One of them was very very young and she could only engage by reading things from a chart. Another one was obsessed with transgender people and kept trying to convince me I was perhaps transgender because I didn't like "traditional" female things.

Now I pay £60/hr for a private therapist, I found her through the BACP website by looking for accredited therapists in my area. I met with several for a first session to begin with and chose the one I 'clicked' with the most.

My GP recommended a couple of people. I looked them up and met with and clicked with one. I saw her for about a year I think ( not weekly mostly).

After about 8 months I’d done a lot of helpful talking but my PTSD symptoms weren’t much better so she suggested EMDR which helped a great deal and quite quickly.

I think it worked so well because she really knew me and my story. I’d go back very quickly if I needed to. A lot of counsellors do do a reduced rate if you are struggling but it’s actually pretty expensive to work in the field so don’t rely on this. As said above some workplaces also offer help so definitely worth checking.

Good luck.

@useranon12

Hi , thank you for the advice really helpful. It's something I am definitely doing for my self it's been a long time coming. If I set £500 to spend to start and do roughly 10 weeks and go from there. I will be looking I to this more coming weeks . I have past trauma alcoholic mother and dealing with parents issues when to young and now I am now going through a break up and I need to figure alot of stuff out. I asked a colleague today about this and to my surprise she knew all about getting a therapist and said it was best thing she done which was lovely to hear x

You’d be amazed how many people have had counselling or therapy these days.

I also used the Counselling Directory. I wanted a Counselling Psychologist because I understood the level of training they have been through (other counselling qualifications are a little less clear even if they are accredited). You can find people fully-qualified and highly experienced people for 50-80 pounds - obviously many make the choice to charge 100+ but price is really not indicative of quality. I would look for someone that you can afford to see for a year - childhood trauma/alcoholic parent etc. takes time and you could well spend the first 10 weeks just going through the difficult break up etc. Good luck - it really is worth it but it takes commitment (I wanted to pack it in at 10 weeks and am so glad I pushed through that resistance as I would say it took about 3 months for me to start to really feel the point of the process).