YOUR THERAPY

Despite ongoing attempts to improve public understanding, there remain many inaccurate and unhelpful beliefs about the process of accessing psychological therapy.

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At Wearside Psychology Services, your journey in therapy will always begin with a comprehensive assessment of your current difficulties and this will be undertaken in the first session via an in-depth clinical interview. You may wish to attend this appointment alone or with a loved one. During this appointment, you and the Psychologist will develop an initial shared understanding of what may be causing your distress, as well as the possible origins of these difficulties and what may be keeping them continuing (which we call a 'formulation’).

​Based upon the formulation, you and the Psychologist will then develop a treatment plan which is individualised to you and your overall goals for therapy. 

 

The choice whether to continue with psychological therapy and intervention after this point is entirely your choice. What your therapy will ‘look like’, and how many sessions you will complete, is dependent heavily upon the difficulties that brought you to treatment, the formulation, and your individual goals.

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Wearside Psychology Services use an integrated approach to therapy, which means we draw upon several different therapeutic techniques in order to help a person develop understanding and cope with their difficulties more effectively. Treatment is therefore often described as ‘individualised’ as opposed to ‘one size fits all’, as it involves applying various psychological theories and techniques dependent upon what you may benefit from.
 

A key concept during therapy is your therapeutic relationship with the Psychologist and all treatment is a collaborative process. In this sense, psychological therapy is regularly described as something which is 'done with you' rather than 'done to you'. Therapy can at times involve other people in your life (i.e., family or partners), however this will be discussed and negotiated with you throughout.
 

Whilst therapy may at times be difficult or emotionally challenging for you, the Psychologist is there to support and guide you throughout this process. The overall aim is to decrease your psychological distress and increasing overall mental wellbeing.