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Tillow Barn Health & Wellbeing

TREATMENT AND THERAPIES CENTRE FOR DORKING & REIGATE

How To Find The Right Therapist

Finding a therapist can be challenging and overwhelming, particularly during times when you might already be experiencing difficulties.


This page aims to provide guidance on what to consider when searching for a talking therapist and offers suggestions to help you in making an informed decision.

Our Therapists

What to look for in a therapist

When you're struggling, either physically or mentally, it can seem daunting and confusing trying to find someone who can help. Personal recommendations are of course ideal, but that's not always possible and you can end up scouring the internet and going round in circles trying to make a decision.

This page is designed to give you some pointers about things you can look for to help this process. These ideas work for all kinds of therapy, but are especially useful for the talking therapies, such as counselling or psychotherapy, where the relationship between therapist and client is particularly crucial to the therapeutic process.

Some questions worth asking

Are they qualified?

It can sometimes be useful to look at a therapist's qualifications but it is worth being aware that not all qualifications are the same. Despite appearing at first glance to be reassuring, some qualifications can be achieved within a short time frame and even with distance learning. You may decide that's suitable for some therapies, but if you're sharing something as important as, for example, your mental health you might want to be sure it's with someone who has properly invested in their training.

The best way to ensure that your therapist is well qualified is to check whether they're a member of a respected professional or regulatory body. A good association will require that their members are qualified to an acceptable level. You should be able to check exactly what they require of their members on each association's own website.

Are they supervised?

Any good therapist will invest in supervision, which means they check-in regularly with another therapist to ensure that they are working ethically, maintaining boundaries and continuously developing their skills. This is a requirement of all good associations and regulatory bodies. If a counsellor or psychotherapist tells you they don't need supervision, that's a good reason to steer clear.

Are they regulated?

It's helpful when looking for a therapist to know the difference between a regulatory body and a professional body. Generally, a regulatory body acts in the interests of the public, whereas a professional body acts in the interests of its members. This means that membership of a professional body isn't as good a recommendation as registration with a regulatory body.


There are some associations that act as both a regulatory body and a professional association (such as the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). If a practitioner is a member of an association that regulates the profession, as well as represents it, that's a good sign.


Some professions are regulated by statutory law, such as chiropractic, osteopathy and medicine. This means that it's illegal for anyone who is not registered with their regulatory body to call themselves by the professional title (e.g. Chiropractor, Osteopath). But for those disciplines not regulated by statute, it is possible for anyone to call themselves by the profession's title (e.g. counsellor, psychotherapist or massage therapist). In these cases, it's particularly important to find out just how well qualified and regulated the therapist is.



Are they approachable?

It's important in any kind of therapy, whether it's a talking therapy or a hands-on therapy, that you feel you can trust your practitioner. Having confidence and trust in them will ensure that you get the best from the therapeutic process.


A good practitioner will be happy to talk to you before you commit to booking a paid appointment with them, so that you can ask a few short questions. Even this brief exchange will give you a feel for whether you might be able to work well together. Trust your instincts and if you're not comfortable, try someone else. This initial contact is the start of the therapeutic relationship, so it's an important part of the process.


Similarly, if you've had a few sessions with someone but you don't feel it's working for you, don't give up completely on the idea of the therapy you've chosen. Sometimes people need to try a few different therapists before they find one who they feel is really on their wavelength and with whom they can work well. So stick with it and keep trying - the likelihood is that you will find someone eventually who might just change your life!

What next?

Now that you have some idea about what to look for in a therapist, please visit our Talking Therapies page to see if the right therapist for you is here at Tillow Barn.

Disclaimer

The Practitioners on this website are independent providers who are neither our employees nor representatives. Tillow Barn Health & Wellbeing’s role is limited to enabling the Practitioner to provide their services in a clean, professional environment. Although we will have seen evidence of professional qualification and indemnity when they registered with us, we urge you to satisfy yourself that they are suitably qualified by making your own independent checks. The Practitioners themselves are solely responsible for the performance of their services.

By undergoing any therapy or treatment performed by any Practitioner at Tillow Barn Health & Wellbeing, including cosmetic aesthetics treatments, you acknowledge that Tillow Barn Health & Wellbeing is not responsible in any way for any damage or injury caused by any therapy or practice taking place on its premises.