Below is a rough guide to some approaches and what types of therapy may be appropriate for certain situations or personalities. This is only intended as a helpful tool to give you a brief overview of how some of mainstream therapies work.
My issue happened a long time ago - I feel ready to talk through it now...
Perhaps before you go about trying to adopt positive changes in your life, you feel you need the opportunity to talk over traumatic events in your life in depth and detail. You may be someone who has never spoken of these issues before and have finally decided to seek release. Alternatively, you may be someone whose friends and family suggest that you talk about these problems a lot.
Discussing these issues with a professional can help you to break the vicious cycle of repetition without catharsis. Person centred therapy holds the belief that the client is the expert, and that a person will naturally move towards growth and healing if given the opportunity.
Person Centred Therapy is not a structured approach in the same that CBT is, and allows the client to weave in and out of their own life stories towards catharsis. PCT is driven by the client in the belief that the client instinctively knows where to 'go'. It is a very popular form of treatment which many report as having satisfied their basic need to be truly listened to without prejudice and preconception.
I like the sound of talking through things but don't know if I want to be in the driving seat...
Pscyhodynamic Therapy proffers that much of who we are can be traced back to our childhood experiences and primary caregivers. As adults we can explore our pasts, identifing and working through certain issues as a way of diminishing their hold on us in our present. The therapist takes an active role, guiding you to and through times in your life which may be considered relevant to the situation for which you have sought therapy.
I don't want to get caught up in my past - I just want this fixed
The more structured therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Gestalt Brief Therapy (GBT) tend to focus on the 'here and now' rather than the past, whilst accepting the importance of our upbringing, environment and past experiences. (less so SFBT which focuses solely on an 'ideal future' and does not dwell on past at all). If you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and are ready to make the necessary changes, then any of these may be good for you. CBT does involve a lot of 'homework' with the therapy session acting as a means to assess progress and discuss challenges you may have found along the way. As with anything worthwhile, if you put the work into it, you are far more likely to get results.
I don't know what the problem is, and I don't know where to start - it's like it's everything...
People seeking therapy often feel this way - a general malaise, a sense of discontentment without being able to pin-point any particular issue. Gestalt Therapy explores cycles - or Gestalts - in life which may keep repeating without conclusion, making a person feel as thought they are 'stuck in a rut'. It can be an incredibly insightful process, going through Gestalt treatment, and one which will raise your awareness of who you are and why you do what you do. Most therapies may lend themselves well to this type of situation, so it's more important that you feel safe and comfortable with your therapist, regardless of their approach.
I have been diagnosed with a personality disorder by my GP but don't feel hopeful that therapy can help me
Personality Disorders are enduring clusters of cognitive and behavioural patterns which can be difficult to change, but some therapies such as Schema Therapy, can be effective for many who have been diagnosed with this mental health issue. When CBT has not been effective in changing the way a person with a personality disorders thinks, feels and behaves in trigger situations, Schema Therapy will dig deeper and seek catharsis from the source of the problem.
Therapy hasn't worked for me
There are so many factors which go towards making therapy and positive and productive experience, that it might be difficult to pin point any one reasons as to why therapy did not work for you. Perhaps you may wish to consider a different type of therapy or perhaps you are not quite ready to make the changes, as mentioned before. As humans, we can be incredibly clever at keeping things from ourselves, and we will often come up with many excuses as to why something may not work for us. Still, there are always possible reasons such as not getting on with your Therapist, the wrong environment, the wrong time, etc which may contribute. Don't lose heart - we are changeable creatures and all unique - there is no 'one size fits all'.
Regardless of your choices in therapeutic approach, it's important to recognise that all therapies aim to do the same thing - improve your well being and bring about a positive state of mental health. How they achieve this may differ, but all are worth exploring in their own right - you will get a feel for which type of therapy seems suited to your needs, your issues and most importantly - you.
