There are so many different types of counselling that you might be worried you haven’t picked the right type. Even after a very successful course of counselling that was life changing, I remember hearing about a new method of counselling, and found myself wondering if I’d missed out what might have been even better results! So how can you know what the right type of counselling is for you? Here are some questions to help answer that.
- What types of counselling are accessible to you?
If you live in an area with no face-to-face counsellors nearby you need to consider if you are happy to travel far for weekly sessions or if you’d prefer online counselling. Similarly, if you have mobility difficulties, you’ll need to look into which counsellors can cater well to your needs.
- Which counsellors are accessible to you?
One of the biggest factors for effective counselling is the relationship between the client and counsellor. So, it’s worth considering which counsellors are available for you to see. If you can find a counsellor you will be comfortable talking with, then their methods might be more helpful to you than the different methods of a counsellor you are uncomfortable with.
If you can find a counsellor who takes an eclectic approach, then after the first few sessions, they can agree with you about the type of counselling they think they should use with you.
- Is there a type of counselling known for helping my particular problems?
Different types of counselling are called modalities. The BACP have a list of over thirty different modalities https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/types-of-therapy/ , but there are actually many more in existence. Some of these modalities are known to be particularly effective for certain problems. For example, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is known for dealing with anxiety and phobias in a reasonably short space of time. Emotionally Focused Therapy is known for helping couples’ relationships. Some therapists stick to using one modality, and others take an integrative or eclectic approach and use parts of different modalities that they think will work best for you.
So ideally you’ll want to find a counsellor who is available to you who uses an approach that is suitable for the problem you’re facing.
By Duncan Forbes