Who is therapy for?

cont. from

Prejudice about emotional distress sometimes stops people from using talking treatments they could benefit from. They may feel that it is a sign of weakness or inadequacy to seek assistance in this way. The truth is very different; it is not your fault if you experience emotional difficulties, and it takes courage to face up to them and find better ways of coping. Most people can benefit from talking treatments. They can do for the mind what exercise does for the body. They liven you up, help you to think more flexibly, make you stronger, emotionally, and help to stop more serious problems from occurring. Just like taking exercise, it is important to find what suits you best.

Unfortunately, it is also true that doctors are more likely to suggest talking treatments if you are white and middle class. Talking treatments work just as well for working class people, Black people and people from minority ethnic communities.

The only difficulty is that most counselors and psychotherapists are white and middle class, and they may not have a good understanding of what it is like to be you. It can help if they have made the effort to learn about cultures that are different from their own. People with learning disabilities, lesbians and gay men, older people and people with chronic illness are also under-represented when it comes to receiving talking treatments.

Good psychotherapists and counselors listen and learn from their clients, and don’t try and impose their values on them. There are some organizations that offer talking treatments to specific sections of the community. There is now much more awareness of this issue, and more effort has been focused on tackling it.

When are talking treatments not suitable?

There are some good reasons (as well as bad ones) for not offering talking treatments. In groups, for instance, it is important that people should be prepared to listen to, and support each other, as well as to talk about themselves. If you aren’t able to do this, or are abusive towards others, you may be asked to leave.

Psychotherapists and counselors may decide they can’t help you. If you are abusing alcohol or other drugs, they may say you first need specialized care to help you stop. If your doctor has prescribed you psychotropic (mood-altering) drugs, such as tranquilizers, some psychotherapists and counselors will not mind, but others will say that you need to come off them for the treatment to work. They may be able to help you do this as part of the treatment.

There is no general agreement among psychotherapists and counselors about whether they can assist people who are diagnosed as having serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia or manic depression (bipolar disorder). Some will say, 'Yes, but only if you stop taking the drugs'. Most will say that whether they can help depends on the person, not on the diagnosis.

Generally, successful treatment depends on the person being prepared to try and make their life better, using the support that is offered. If you blame all your difficulties on other people, or expect the counselor, psychotherapist or fellow group members to 'make you better' without putting in any effort yourself, then you will not be able to benefit.

Talking treatments can assist people to overcome many different sorts of problems, but some difficulties are better helped by other treatments as well, or instead. For example, if you find it hard to sleep, learning relaxation techniques would probably be your first priority.

continue: Do talking treatments work?

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Reviewed: 04/2006