What is ‘talking therapy’?

The terms ‘counselling’, ‘talking therapy’ and ‘psychotherapy’ can be used interchangeably and in my practice I use the following broad interpretations:

  • ‘Counselling’ often takes place over a relatively short period of time, usually around a dozen or so sessions, to explore specific issues/presentations using a more targeted/structured approach.
  • ‘Psychotherapy’ generally offers a longer-term/open-ended approach to enable enough space and time to unpick, explore and work through deeper-rooted issues.
  • ‘Talking Therapy’ is an umbrella term used to refer to both ‘counselling’ and ‘psychotherapy’, and I use all three terms interchangeably.

While there are dozens of approaches to talking therapy, they all aim to support clients to work through a wide range of social, mental and emotional challenges, whether rooted in the past or present.