Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a collaborative interpersonal treatment process that helps individuals, couples or groups explore and address emotional, psychological and/or behavioural difficulties that occur in life. You don't need to have a mental disorder to benefit from psychotherapy but some do. There are a variety of approaches to psychotherapy, below are some examples.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
CBT is a structured, evidence-based psychological treatment that helps individuals understand the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It focuses on identifying and challenging unhelpful thinking patterns and developing more adaptive coping strategies. CBT is goal-oriented, practical, and effective for a range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, stress, and low self-esteem.
Existential Psychotherapy
Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical and relational approach that helps individuals explore deeper questions about meaning, identity, freedom, responsibility, and mortality. Rather than focusing just on symptoms, it supports clients in understanding their experiences within the broader context of what it means to be human. This approach encourages personal reflection, choice, and authenticity helping people navigate life’s uncertainties and find meaning in the face of challenge.
Humanistic Psychotherapy
Humanistic psychotherapy is a client-centred approach that emphasises self-awareness, personal growth, and the innate potential for change. Grounded in empathy, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard, it provides a supportive therapeutic relationship where individuals can explore their thoughts, feelings, and values without judgment. This approach focuses on the whole person and encourages clients to live more fully and meaningfully, in alignment with their true self.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is an in-depth therapeutic approach that explores how past experiences, unconscious processes, and relational patterns influence current thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. By bringing these underlying dynamics into awareness, clients can gain insight into longstanding difficulties, develop greater self-understanding, and experience meaningful emotional change. The therapeutic relationship itself is often an important part of the process, offering a space to explore and work through recurring interpersonal themes.
Bio-Psycho-Social Context
The bio-psycho-social model is a holistic approach to understanding health and wellbeing. It recognises that biological factors (such as genetics and physical health), psychological factors (like thoughts, emotions, and behaviours), and social factors (including relationships, culture, and environment) all interact to influence a person’s overall well-being. Although this is not a treatment approach, an understanding of it helps bring understanding to the mind-body dynamic and how that interacts with psychological well-being. Diet, exercise, connection, biology, environment all play a role in mental health.
At Lifting The Vale: Clinical Psychology practice we believe that all "tools" in the "toolbox" can be of use depending on the contexts and circumstance. The meta-analyses indicate that all psychological approaches built on firm theoretical and practical foundations, as the above approaches are, can be helpful in improving well-being and treating mental health issues. Some techniques work better for some people more than others. By having a flexible approach to practice we aim to be able to accommodate most peoples needs.