CBT is Not the Only Talking Therapy: A point of view

It's tough finding a counsellor that suits every individual and any one counsellor will not suit every client. Also, the increasing medicalisation of mild to moderate mental distress does not always help the individual to get better.  This is why properly qualified independent counsellors need to be allowed to offer a range of alternatives.

Wide spread ignorance in general practise leads to the belief that CBT is the only model of talking therapy that works and that it must be administered only by the NHS. As powerful as CBT is, the widespread dismissal of psychoanalytic theory by many of its practitioners means that it does not always provide lasting relief from emotional distress, especially with the strict rationing number of sessions allowed. It is effective for rapid symptom relief and does work over the long term for many, but not all. The medical model of "treatment" means that the client is seen as a "patient" with a set of "symptoms", and the client is reduced to a set of problems and any failure in the client to improve can be seen as a failure in the commitment of the client.

It is interesting that in many areas of the country that those providing treatment for mental illness under the IAPT (Improved Access to Psychological Therapies) schemes specifically exclude those with training in counselling in favour of those more accepting of a strict medical model. They also make high demands on their practitioners in terms of numbers of clients they must see. This can often result as the patient being seen in terms of outcomes that favour, or not, the practitioner and the genuine relationship between them becomes strained.

By contrast, integrative counselling is founded on the intersubjective relationship between the client and counsellor and offers a talking therapy that truly respects the individuality of the client. It provides an holistic approach to counselling that embracing humanistic, psychoanalytical, and cognitive psychological theories and encourages a detailed exploration of phenomena and from this exploration the meaning underlying a client's distress. Any development of negative regard by the client of the counsellor are seen as just one phenomenon which can usefully be explored to reveal the underlying meaning and how this meaning is played out in the present, often to the detriment of the client's relationships.

There are many well regarded colleges and institutions that offer well-founded training to degree level and beyond, ensuring that their graduates are fit to practise as counsellors and psychotherapists.  With advent of the voluntary regulation by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) for Health and Social Care, GPs and potential clients can have confidence that those included in the approved registers of accredited counsellors maintained by the BACP, UKCP and other ethical bodies have proper training and experience and are subject to a complaints procedure designed to protect the client.

CBT has many virtues and is a model I use in my own practise when requested, but it is not the only talking therapy. Let's please keep it that way.