Types of Therapy Explained

Understanding the different types of therapy can help you choose an approach that feels right for your needs and goals. Below are some of the main therapeutic approaches I draw on in my integrative practice.

What is Counselling?

Counselling is a term used to describe talking therapies that focus on your current behaviour patterns and the challenges you are facing right now. It tends to be time-limited or short-term, often structured with an agreed number of sessions (typically 12–24 weeks), decided together in your first meeting.

Counselling most often helps with things people are currently feeling stressed by, such as challenges at home or work, or a difficult life event like a breakup, divorce or bereavement. It can also help with confidence issues and addictions.

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy tends to be longer-term, ranging from six months to several years. Unlike short-term counselling, longer-term psychotherapy often works with whatever arises in each session, without a fixed agenda.

Psychotherapy looks beyond present-day symptoms to explore their roots, helping you develop a deeper understanding of your emotions by looking at how past experiences, including childhood and early relationships, continue to shape you today. It also examines behavioural patterns that may be causing distress in daily life.

Psychotherapy can help with a wide range of issues, including stress, relationship difficulties, bereavement, depression and anxiety, as well as past experiences such as childhood trauma.

What is Psychodynamic Therapy?

Psychodynamic therapy focuses on unconscious processes that show up in present-day behaviour. It is particularly helpful for people who have lost a sense of meaning in their lives or who find it difficult to form or maintain relationships.

Sessions tend to be open-ended, guided by free association rather than a fixed structure. The aim is to help you notice recurring patterns in your emotions, thoughts and beliefs, many of which begin in childhood, in order to build a clearer, more grounded sense of self.

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?

CBT is a structured, present-focused approach that looks at how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and behaviour. It can be effective for depression, anxiety and many other difficulties, helping you learn more helpful ways of thinking and responding, with the aim of reducing troubling symptoms.

What is Person-Centred Counselling?

Person-centred (or client-centred) therapy is a humanistic approach that focuses on how you experience and perceive yourself, rather than the therapist interpreting your unconscious thoughts. It encourages self-awareness, self-acceptance and personal growth at your own pace.

What is Gestalt Therapy?

Gestalt therapy focuses on present-moment awareness and experience. It has been used effectively alongside treatment for a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, mood disorders, grief and loss, trauma, and behavioural or compulsive difficulties.

What is Transactional Analysis?

Transactional analysis looks at patterns in how we interact and communicate with others. It works from the idea that each person is valuable and capable of positive change and personal growth, and can help you understand recurring dynamics in your relationships.

What is Integrative Counselling?

Integrative counselling combines elements from different therapeutic approaches, rather than relying on a single model. It’s based on the understanding that no single approach works for every person or every situation, so the therapy is shaped around what each individual client needs.

This is the approach I use in my own practice, alongside “walk and talk” therapy for clients who’d like to combine emotional support with the benefits of movement and being outdoors, as well as online sessions for those who prefer the comfort and privacy of home.