Why see a therapist?

People can be suspicious of therapy, feeling that if they have a problem they ought to be able to simply talk to their family or friends about it. But often it's not that simple. Our family and friends
are very involved with us, and at certain times, or with certain issues, it might be hardest to talk to those we are most involved with, or hardest for those
closest to us to be able to help. We
might feel there is something we want
to say but we don't know how to say it, or that if trying to talk goes wrong a lot
is at stake. With a therapist, nothing is
at stake. A therapist is an outsider who listens objectively and non-judgmentally, who enables you to talk uninhibitedly about whatever is on your mind, and who is skilled at helping you to share the fruits of the therapeutic process with the important people in your life in a way that can enormously benefit your personal and professional relationships.

Talking...

Counselling typically focusses on addressing a specific problem or issue during a limited number of sessions (the total number of sessions can be agreed
on in advance), whereas Psychotherapy
is generally a more in-depth and open-ended approach where the person is looked at more as a whole and the process is allowed to run its natural course over months or years rather than restricting it to a time limit at the outset.

Cure?

The term "talking cure" was coined over 100 years ago by a patient (Bertha Pappenheim) who found that her problematic symptoms were alleviated through regular sessions of talking with her doctor (Josef Breuer) about her experiences, memories and fantasies. From these beginnings Breuer's associate Sigmund Freud dedicated his life's work to the further developing of this "talking cure" as a treatment for ailments patients brought to him - a medical doctor - that had no identifiable physiological cause. This was the origin of our modern-day practices of counselling and psychotherapy.

"Treatment", "cure", and "patients" are all terms derived from medical practice and have limited accuracy for the practice of counselling/psychotherapy. While it is our experience at Talking Cure that certain problems can be cured by talking, we find it more appropriate to think in terms of "change" rather than "cure". Counselling and psychotherapy can certainly bring about many changes in a person's life, though the outcome for any particular case cannot be guaranteed in advance. Outcomes of counselling or psychotherapy vary according to the nature of the problem being presented, the person's life circumstances and commitment to their therapy, the expertise of the therapist, and the quality and strength of the relationship that is established between the therapist and patient/client.