How to choose the right counsellor?

Entering therapy can be hugely beneficial, but it requires commitment and trust, so choosing someone you feel able to build a relationship with is important. Some individuals work best with more empathetic or encouraging therapists, whereas others may benefit from a more challenging, directive approach.

It would be good for you to enter therapy with an idea of what you want to achieve from your counselling sessions, so that your choice of therapist and their therapeutic style is in keeping with your goals and objectives. Don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to achieve, though! Some people have a firm idea of that, others less so.

A first therapy session usually takes the form of an assessment, to see if the therapist can help you, but it will also be an assessment to see if you feel comfortable with the therapist. If that session doesn’t have the right ‘feel’ for you, talk about it with your therapist and if it still doesn’t feel right, then it’s probably wise to change therapists. Working with the right person is essential if therapy is going to be useful to you.

If you have spent a lot of time thinking about or living with a problem, then try to give some thought to the length of time it might take to work through the issue. Some problems are more complex than others. There is seldom a quick fix for major issues – so having an idea of the time and the money you can afford on your work with the therapist can help you plan the best way to manage your sessions cost-effectively.

Feel free to ask questions about how a therapist works: what approaches they use, whether they have had experience dealing with your sort of problem before and to which professional body they belong. Your therapist should be able to answer these questions readily.

For further information on finding appropriate care, please look at the BACP website. This is a national organisation, which has stringent rules for membership as well as a code of ethics to which all of its registered practitioners adhere.