Talking treatments
Psychological therapy is a treatment for mental illness which involves talking through your problems with a trained therapist. There are many different types of therapy which can be used for a variety of different conditions. Therapy has been more commonly associated with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety but recently research shows it can be effective for more serious conditions such as schizophrenia.
What is psychological therapy?
The information on this page is taken from our Talking Therapies Factsheet
Many people find that psychological therapies, sometimes referred to as ‘talking treatments’, ‘counselling or psychotherapy’, are useful for the treatment of mental illness. Therapy can either be used on its own or combined with medication.
According to the Department of Health, psychological therapies have an important role to play in helping people with mental health problems
With the help of a trained professional, clients are encouraged to talk through the problems associated with their mental illness. Therapy can also allow you to explore the factors involved in making you ill in the first place and what keeps you from recovering. Therapy can also help a person deal with a specific traumatic experience such as bereavement.
Therapy is usually undertaken though one-to-one sessions with a trained therapist or can be held as a group. There are also non-talking based psychological therapies such as art therapy. The number of sessions required depends on the type of therapy, the nature of the illness and what is available if the therapy is accessed on the NHS.
