Who are Psychotherapists?

Psychotherapists are professionals who are specifically trained to relate to and treat people who are distressed. An integral part of the treatment is the relationship between the psychotherapist and the patient/client.

Psychotherapists utilize a variety of psychological methods and skills in an effort to alleviate personal suffering and to encourage change. They may practice in a public or private setting and treat clients of all ages, including children.

What problems are addressed in psychotherapy?

The work of psychotherapy can involve:

• feelings associated with loss
• family crisis, including separation
• life stage developmental problems
• past trauma
• abuse issues
• relationship problems
• anxiety
• depression
• phobias
• obsessions
• self-harm
• addictions
• any other emotional or psychological difficulty.

REFERRAL PROCUDURE

You can make direct contact with psychotherapists. A good place to start may be to discuss the help you need with your GP.

How to find and choose a Psychotherapist?

A useful aid in your search is the ICP register A Guide to Psychotherapy in Ireland, published by Columba Press and obtainable in any good book shop. You can also find a psychotherapist on this website - we list all accredited psychotherapists who are members of ICP. Personal recommendation, i.e. “word of mouth”, can also be a good way of choosing a therapist.

On first contacting a psychotherapist it is quite acceptable to discuss the following issues either on the phone when making the appointment or (more usually) at the first session:

• Therapist’s training, experience and accreditation
• Therapist’s supervision
• Fees and nature of payment
• Duration and frequency of sessions

CODE OF ETHICS

Each professional organisation with the Irish Council for Psychotherapy has a Code of Ethics and a complaints and disciplinary procedure. The Code of Ethics are the rules of practice that govern how each psychotherapist operates within the therapy process. The Code of Ethics obliges the therapist to uphold a high standard of professional competence and personal conduct in their practice with their clients. It also includes other areas of their practice such as confidentiality, record keeping, fees and advertising..

Description of the five different models of psychotherapy from which to choose.

1. COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY

Cognitive Behaviour Psychotherapy aims to empower the client to improve his/her quality of life. This is achieved by developing effective strategies and skills to resolve problems in how they think, act and feel which are a source of distress for the client. The therapist uses an educational approach, to teach new skills to the client, which are then used by the client in difficult circumstances.

2. CONSTRUCTIVIST PSYCHOTHERAPY
The emphasis on an invitational approach to ways of making sense of experiences is the clearest hallmark of Constructivist Psychotherapy. Constructivist psychotherapy draws on constructivist and social constructionist ideas, research and practices, both within and outside of psychology. Constructivism takes the position that the stories we experience and live out are informed by the variety of ways we have of making meaning of our lives.

Constructivist psychotherapy is mindful that such sensemaking, both verbal and non-verbal, emotional as well as cognitive, happens in relational, social and cultural contexts. The invitation in constructivist psychotherapy is to draw on our capacity to enquire, make and narrate something new, using our many and unique ways of being together.

3. COUPLE AND FAMILY THERAPY

Couple and Family Therapy, also known as Systemic Psychotherapy, understands emotional, psychological and interpersonal problems to arise in how people understand their experiences, how they make sense of reality and in their patters of social engagement and exchange.

The therapist and client seek to understand how these patterns arise and are maintained through discussion, reflection and exploration in sessions and between sessions. There may be more than one client involved in this process. This usually provides other options in making sense of one’s situation and generates greater choice in how to respond and relate.

Goals are usually achieved over a relatively small number of meetings with intervals of two to four weeks between appointments.

4. HUMANISTIC AND INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

While concerned with an individual’s particular dilemmas and distress, this approach sees the person as a whole; including body, feelings, mind and psyche. It invites people, through the therapeutic relationship, to develop awareness and, in time, insight into what prevents integration in the inner and outer expressions of their lives. As a psychotherapy which recognizes the value of each individual, it confirms each person’s own resources and capacity for self-determination. It holds that, although struggling with emotional and psychological burdens, people can improve the quality of their lives.

5. PSYCHOANALYTICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

This section is composed of six organisations:

• Irish Forum for Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
• Irish Forum for Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy
• Irish Group Analytic Society
• Irish Analytical Psychology Association
• Irish Psycho-Analytical Association
• Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations

As well as treating the surface of personal problems, psychoanalytic psychotherapy endeavours to reach the underlying, often unconscious, sources of a person’s distress.

Together with the therapist, the client can explore feelings, memories, fantasies, free association and dreams, relating to both past and present. In the reliable setting of the therapy, the interactions between the therapist and client are explored, thus achieving a new and better understanding of long-standing difficulties. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is not of fixed duration.

How do I know if a psychotherapist is sufficiently qualified?

Irish Council for Psychotherapy members are committed to the Irish and European Standards for psychotherapy. These standards have been agreed by all the major psychotherapy organisations in Europe which are responsible for the training and accreditation of psychotherapists.

Where can I obtain more information?

You can obtain further information by contacting the Irish Council for Psychotherapy by phone, writing to us or reading more of the material on this website. Each association has a contact person who will be able to give more information.

Irish Council for Psychotherapy
73 Quinn’s Road
Shankill
Co Dublin
Tel: 01 2722105
Fax: 01 2722111

You can also contact the Council by using our online Contact Form