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In the UK, working as a therapist/counsellor is unregulated. This means that anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves
a therapist or counsellor. This may include people who have had no training whatsoever, people who have done a brief counselling
course, people who hold a fancy-sounding, but unrecognised qualification as well as people who hold recognised qualifications.
It is therefore advisable to choose someone who is registered with a reputable body such as, for example, the British Association
for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or with the British Confederation of Psychotherapists (BCP). In order to qualify
for registration with either of these two bodies, a therapist has to have completed a recognised training course and have
on-going supervision. Both bodies operate a code of ethics and a complaints procedure, so there is some protection for clients.
There are then several ways of finding a therapist:
1. You could ask your GP to recommend one. Many GP practices work with local therapists; sometimes they are even based at
the GP practice. (Also, if you can't afford to pay to see a therapist privately, then going to your GP and asking for a referral
to see one on the NHS will be your only option.)
If you see a therapist as a private patient, expect to pay from �30 upwards for a 50 minute session (though some therapists
have a sliding fee scale and may offer lower fees if you can't afford the full fee).
2. Some dentists work together with a therapist. Therefore, another option of finding a therapist is phoning the dental surgeries
in your town and ask if they liaise with a therapist for patients who suffer from dental phobia.
(If you find a therapist through your GP or a dental surgery, you can use the BACP and BCP registers mentioned below to confirm
the registration status of the therapist.)
3. If you don't want to discuss this with your GP and you can't face phoning lots of dental surgeries, you can find a therapist
through the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Their web site is at www.bacp.co.uk.
On the web site, look down the left-hand side and click on "Find a therapist". Then either select a region from the drop-down
menu or type in the name of a town. This then gives you a list of names of therapists. You can then place "ticks" in the boxes
on the far right-hand side for those names where you'd like to see further information. Make sure you choose those that have
the letters "BACP" in the "registration/accreditation" column.
You can then review their details, e.g. contact details, qualifications, experience, fees, therapeutic approach etc.
4. Alternatively, you can find a therapist from the web site of the British Confederation of Psychotherapists (BCP). Their
web site is at www.bcp.org.uk.
On the left-hand side, click on "Finding a Therapist" (this gives you a list of member organisations who can assist you in
finding a therapist).
Or, also on the left-hand side, click on "On-line Register". Then select a county from the drop-down menu and tick "adult
trained". The click the "search register" button. This way you get a list of names of individual therapists.
Some other points:
The BACP register gives the therapeutic approach used by each therapist, e.g. psychodynamic, person-centred, CBT, etc. It
is useful to bear in mind that not all methods suit all people. For therapy to be successful it is important that there is
the "right fit" between the therapist and the client.
If you want to know a bit more about the different approaches to help you decide which one might be best for you, there is
an excellent book called "Who can I talk to?" (by Judy Cooper & Jenny Lewis). It is a guide that gives an overview of the
various therapies and counselling services available in the UK. It outlines the theories behind the different approaches and
gives checklists to help you find the therapy which will best suit your individual situation.
You can obtain the book from Amazon or from your local library (if they don't have it on the shelf, you can ask for it to
be ordered for you from another library).
When the guide was published it was endorsed by the BCP, BACP, Child Line, Cruse, Institute of Family Therapy, Institute of
Group Analysis, MIND, Relate, Samaritans, Westminster Pastoral Foundation, Young Minds Trust.
It is generally a good idea to interview more than one therapist on the phone or in person before making a final decision.
Some therapists offer a free initial consultation. Think about the kind of questions you may want to ask, such as for example,
what experience the therapist has with phobias in general and dental phobia in particular.
Some therapists will come with you to the dentist (when you're ready to visit one) if you want this, others will not do this.
Therefore, if this is important to you, it's a good idea to establish whether this will be possible at the outset.
The above is � the author (2005)
For a low-down on the US situation, check out soyouwanna.com's tips on how to choose a therapist. Lots of annoying pop-up windows, but provides great information!
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