Behavioural therapies are based on the belief that your unwanted or unhealthy behaviours are a learned response to your past experiences. By focusing on current problems, the aim is to help you learn new, more positive behaviours without having to analyse the past (BACP, 2019). Behavioural therapy can be beneficial if you are experiencing depression, anxiety, panic disorders, fears, anger issues, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, repeated self-harm or substance abuse.
CAT looks at your past experiences and relationships to understand why you think, feel and act as you do. It relies on forming a trusting relationship with your therapist, who will help you make sense of your situation and find new, healthier ways to cope with your problems. CAT sessions tend to be for between 16 and 24 weeks (BACP, 2019). CAT can be beneficial if you are experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, eating disorder, repeated self-harm, anger issues, sexual difficulties or bereavement.
CBT aims to help you change the way you think (cognitive) and what you do (behaviour). Rather than looking at past causes, it focuses on current problems and practical solutions to help you feel better now. The way we think about situations affects the way we feel and behave. If we view a situation negatively, we may experience negative emotions and feelings, which lead us to behave in an unhelpful way. Your therapist will help you identify and challenge any negative thinking so you can deal with situations better and behave in a more positive way (BACP, 2019). CBT can be beneficial if you are experiencing anxiety, anger issues, depression, eating disorders, fears, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks and agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, procrastination, relationship issues, phobias, stress and burnout, substance abuse or excessive worry.
Cognitive therapy is a treatment process that helps correct false self-beliefs that lead to certain moods and behaviours. Cognitive therapy is based on the theory that your previous experiences can damage your perception of yourself, which can affect your attitudes, emotions and your ability to deal with certain situations. It can help you to identify, question and change poor mental images of yourself, so guiding you away from negative responses and behaviour (BACP, 2019). Cognitive therapy can be beneficial if you are experiencing anxiety, anger issues, depression, fears, phobias, stress and burnout, substance abuse, eating disorder or excessive worry
Existential therapy explores the inner conflict and anxiety people may experience when confronted with life’s ultimate concerns, such as the inevitability of death, freedom and its responsibilities, isolation and meaninglessness. Existentialists believe that life has no essential (given) meaning and that you have to make your own sense of the world. Counsellors can help you confront your anxieties and negative thoughts, enabling you to make decisions about how to live life and deal with life problems in your own way (BACP, 2019). Existential therapy can be beneficial if you are experiencing anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, feelings of hopelessness or a general and inexplicable sensation of emptiness.
Life coaching supports individuals, teams or groups in achieving greater self-awareness. Improved self-management skills and increased self-efficacy can help develop your own goals and solutions. It is a collaborative, conversation-based process, which emphasises and builds on your existing and developing strengths. It is often focused on supporting you in making changes, either to how things are at present or to your near and distant future (BACP, 2019).
Relationship therapy encourages the parties in a relationship to recognise repeating patterns of distress and to understand and manage troublesome differences that they are experiencing. The relationship involved may be between members of a family, a couple, or even work colleagues. For family systems, it allows family members to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, helping them understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs and build on their strengths. For couples, it can help parties to make useful changes in their relationships and their lives by focusing on emotions helps to create and reinforce secure, resilient relationships. Your therapists will help you understand your own and others’ emotions, address any insecurities and conflicts, and learn to interact in a more responsive and emotionally-connected way with each other. For work-based relationships, your therapist will explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, helping parties to understand and manage differences and appreciate each other’s needs (BACP, 2019).
This approach focuses on the individual as a whole. It encourages people to think about their feelings and take responsibility for their thoughts and actions. The emphasis is on self-development and achieving your highest potential rather than on problematic behaviour. In person centred-therapy you are supported to re-establish your true identity and overcome the fear of judgment. Person-centred therapy is based on the view that everyone has the capacity and desire for personal growth and change, given the right conditions. Rather than being seen as the expert and directing the therapy, the counsellor offers unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence to help you come to terms with any negative feelings and to change and develop in your own way (BACP, 2019). Person-centred therapy can be beneficial if you are experiencing depression, anxiety, relationship issues, personality disorders, addictions or workplace stress.
SFBT targets your default solution patterns, evaluates them for efficacy, and modifies or replaces them with problem-solving approaches that work. This therapy promotes positive change rather than dwelling on past problems. Your therapist will encourage you to focus positively on what you do well, set goals and work out how to achieve them. Just three or four sessions may be beneficial (BACP, 2019). SFBT can be beneficial if you are experiencing issues with relationships, eating disorders, anxiety and depression, substance abuse or behavioural problems.
Transactional analysis is a comprehensive approach which incorporates aspects of person cantered (humanistic) and cognitive-behavioural therapy. It categorises the human personality into three ego-states – Parent, Adult and Child, which can help you understand how you interact with others. Knowing that we can choose which ego-state to communicate from means that we can make choices about how an exchange with someone is going to develop and whether we want it to succeed or not. Therapists also look at how your beliefs and the way you interpret the world around you can create recurrent and problematic patterns of behaviour, and will work with you to help you to change (BACP, 2019). Transnational Analysis can be beneficial is you are experiencing anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or relationship difficulties.