PSYCHOTHERAPY, COUNSELLING AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

is a process in which you have the opportunity to work through a particular problem or group of problems that are troubling you. It is aimed at helping you to understand the nature of the problem, and develop strategies and resources for dealing with those particular issues. The counsellor is there as a resource person and facilitator, offering suggestions where needed and helping you make any necessary changes.

Some issues that may be helped through counselling:
· Stress
· Anxiety and panic attacks
· Depression
· Relationship difficulties
· Loss or bereavement
· Addictions
· Self esteem and self-confidence
· Work related issues

investigates difficulties at a deeper level than counselling. It is especially useful where the cause of your difficulties in the present lies much further back in your life, possibly in childhood or in particular life experiences. These experiences may have had a long term influence on you. You may have developed ways of being which worked well at the time, enabling you survive the situation. These behaviours may no longer be useful and may now even be causing pain and difficulties in adult life, in relationships, at work and in your emotional life.

Psychotherapy is a longer-term, and therefore emotionally and financially more demanding, process that focuses more on the world of the thoughts, beliefs, memories and feelings that make you who you are at this time. In a gentle and appropriate manner, psychotherapy opens up and explores these life events with a view to coming to terms with them It is a process in which you resolve inner conflicts, deal with long stored pain, and develop healthier thought patterns and more satisfying ways of living. This process can be immensely healing. One of the results of this process is that you develop a better feeling about yourself and therefore also have better relationships with others and with the world around you.

There are many different models of psychotherapy and different modes of working. All are useful. Some may suit you better than others and may work better for you. Counselling and psychotherapy is a collaboration between you and the counsellor/psychotherapist. You always have the right to choose whether this person is right for you and whether you wish to work in a particular way.



A Clinical Psychologist has trained in Psychology and uses a range of models and techniques to help the client resolve mental health problems and improve mental health and wellbeing.

Clinical Psychologists undertake a minimum of 6 years University education in Psychology, followed by a two year internship (working under supervision of a qualified and registered professional in the area). At the end of this period (8 years), if they meet competency requirements, they are able to register with the WA Psychologists Registration Board with the specialist title of Clinical Psychologist. They are also eligible to register with the Health Insurance Commission and Health Benefit funds as Psychologists with a specialist title.



Regardless of the techniques or models being used, both counselling and psychotherapy are only effective to the extent that the client and the counsellor or psychotherapist can form a good relationship. At the end of the first visit, when both client and therapist have had a chance to look at each other, you, the client, make a decision as to whether this therapist “clicks” for you. Your own intuition is your best guide, but asking some of the following questions may also help your decision.


For psychologists, professional qualifications leading to registration with the WA Psychologists Registration Board is an assurance that the therapist has met competency requirements. Counsellors and psychotherapists who are trained in other disciplines have similar accreditation bodies.


Any process of counselling and psychotherapy is very exposing. You need to know that what you say will be treated with respect and that your privacy and confidentiality maintained. Knowledge of your rights under the Privacy legislation of 2000 will help you with this decision. You can also ask your counsellor/psychotherapist about his/her privacy provisions.



When you undertake psychotherapy/counselling you may feel very vulnerable. You may be sharing with another person aspects of yourself and your life that may be painful, frightening, possibly even shaming. You need to feel reassured that the therapist will not push you too hard too soon or close off from you because he/she is unable to cope with what you are telling them. If you have been traumatized in your relationships with people previously, trust is an even more powerful factor for you.

You have at least two resources here – your own gut reaction and a knowledge that the therapist has tackled his/her own issues and psychotherapy – that he/she has sat in your chair and experienced what you are experiencing now. If the therapist has trained with a particular training body in a special therapy modality, the training body usually has some supervision requirements that the practitioner must meet before certification. You are free to ask.



Above all, you need to feel that you can relate to this person. Did you feel welcomed? Was the person warm and empathetic? Did you feel that he/she had your interests at heart? Was the counsellor client-focused or did you feel that he/she was not listening, was too self-involved or too keen to push a particular course?