Below are brief descriptions of several therapies. There is detailed information about the different therapies on the specific organisation websites and the URL’s are also provided.

Different people are drawn towards different models for personal reasons and sometimes particular therapies are most helpful for helping to overcome specific problems. However, it is always important that any individual has the right to choose what they feel would suit them best regarding their personality and the way they think. It is also important to find a therapist who is competent and confident in that mode of therapy.

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)

CAT is derived from cognitive psychotherapies (such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and from psychoanalytic approaches into one integrated therapy. It is tailored to a person’s individual needs and goals for change and designed to be a time-limited therapy, usually between 16 and 24 weeks, but can be longer.

CAT is a relational model, in its view of human development and in its practice of psychotherapy. The approach encourages empathy, respect and collaboration so that patients can derive meaning from the relationship between them and their therapist. CAT includes aspects of cognitive approaches such as teaching clients self-observation of moods, thoughts and symptoms, identifying current problems and exploring their origins in earlier life and significant relationships.

Therapist and patient develop an understanding of how these problems affect the patient’s life and wellbeing in terms of how they relate to themselves and others. These are seen as survival strategies that were helpful at the time but have now become problematic and in need of change to something more helpful. Therapist and patient then discuss alternative ways of relating and work on these ‘exits.’ The ending phase of therapy allows therapist and patient to say ‘goodbye’ and discuss ways to continue moving forward after the therapy has ended.

Further information can be found at the Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapists (ACAT):
https://www.acat.me.uk

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

CFT is based upon evolutionary psychology, which views humans to have ‘tricky brains’ that are very advanced but also have the remains of their evolutionary ancestors necessary for survival. As a result, there is often a conflict in what we need as social humans (care and compassion) and the effects of the highly pressurizing world we have created. The CFT model regards humans to have 3 emotional regulation systems: the motivation system, the self-soothing system and the threat system. These are thought to be out of balance when people become stressed, depressed and mentally unwell.

CFT aims to help people develop self-soothing, self-supportive and nurturing ways of living through compassionate mind training. The therapist explores the concept of compassion with the patient and uses a compassionate approach throughout to make sense of safety strategies and core beliefs. The patient’s ‘inner self-critic’ or ‘inner bully’ is explored through feelings of anger, anxiety, sadness and shame and understood as a safety strategy.
Through Mindfulness, compassionate letter writing and imagery (of self and others) patients are oriented to adopt a more compassionate self­identity and have a compassionate focus on themselves to achieve goals and achieve contentment.

Further information can be found at the Compassionate Mind Foundation:
https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a time limited therapy, usually 10 to 16 weekly sessions, that looks at links between how people think (“cognition”), how this makes them behave (“behaviour”) and how this can make the person feel (your mood). CBT helps you to make changes in your patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours to improve your mood and day- to-day functioning and help you to achieve your own individual goals. Techniques used in CBT include identifying thinking errors, thought/behaviour logs, mood charts, journals and looking at ‘vicious’ or ‘self-defeating’ patterns of behaviour and thinking.

Patient and therapist talk about what has become a problem for the patient and try to understand the ways the patient thinks and acts which could be making this difficult to overcome. This often involves some psycho-education about the CBT model and how this can be used to understand their specific problems or condition. They then work on ways to change the unhelpful ways of thinking and acting, which might include practicing new skills or activities and different ways of responding to situations. Patients are expected to practice the new skills in between sessions so that they can experience the effects of using the skills intended to reduce the difficulties.

Further information can be found at the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists (BABCP) website:
http://www.babcp.com

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

When people experience traumatic events, they can have difficulty integrating the information into their memory because it is so different to other stored memories. This results in symptoms, such as flashbacks and the physical re-experiencing of the trauma long after the event occurred.

EMDR is a technique that was developed to treat the effects of trauma, such as PTSD, but is now used to treat many different conditions. It is used with other forms of therapy and does not involve very much talking. EMDR works by replicating the brain’s natural way of processing information to store in memory.

Normally during REM sleep our eye movements facilitate the processing of information stored in our brain and allow it to be integrated into our memory. However, this does not happen when the memories are highly traumatic and associated with frightening thoughts. EMDR uses eye movements, as in REM sleep, to help re-process the memories so they become less frightening and able to be integrated into the memory system. This is achieved with the guidance of the therapist who also provides emotional support and reassurance to enhance feelings of safety.

For people who find eye movements difficult to cope with or those who are visually impaired, there are other ways to replicate the eye movements, such as through alternate sounds or vibrations in the ears and alternate gentle taps of the hands or knees.

Further information can be found at the EMDR Europe website:
https://emdr-europe.org/

Mentalisation Based Treatment (MBT)

Mentalisation is the ability to think about thinking. This is a skill that people usually begin to learn in very early childhood through relationships with carers. It is essential to help people make sense of their own and other’s thoughts, beliefs, wishes and feelings, and to link these to behaviours. Mentalisation is a capacity that we take for granted because we all use it constantly in everyday life and it forms the foundations for human relationships. However, some people find it more difficult to mentalise than others which often causes difficulties in their relationships and ability to cope in many areas of life.

MBT is a type of long-term psychotherapy that aims to help people improve their mentalising capacity. Therapist and patient explore their life experiences and try to make sense of what has happened to them through a ‘mentalising lense’. During sessions there is a focus on what is on the patient’s mind and what might be in the minds of other people that could explain their behaviour. Patient and therapist attempt to re-interpret difficult situations with improved mentalising skills and reflect upon how this impacts their relationships and life.

Further information can be found at the Anna Freud Foundation website:
https://www.annafreud.org

There are also brief descriptions of various psychological therapies on the following mental health websites:

The Mind website:
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/types-of-talking-therapy/

The Rethink website:
https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/living-with-mental-illness/treatment-and-support/talking-therapies/

Time to Change website:
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/about-mental-health/types-problems

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