Manchester Psychotherapy

Counselling in Manchester

Does Therapy work?

By

Does Therapy Work?Big question.  And as far as I’m concerned there is a simple answer.  Yes.  Therapy can work very effectively.   I can hear you now though, quite rightly, shouting at your monitor, “but you’re a therapist so you’re bound to say that” so let’s see if I can convince you further.

As a therapist my starting place has to be my own experience.  When I am working as a therapistI witness clients making positive changes in their lives consistently and I have also experienced these changes in my own life.  Sometimes it can take weeks for that “aha” moment to arrive, but when it does that moment can, literally, be life changing.  It was these moments, these insights into my own ways of thinking that stimulated my interest in psychotherapy.  I was able to use this knowledge to live my life differently, to develop better relationships and to change my behaviour for the better. Now, many years later, I have the privilege of being let into other people’s lives to support and guide them whilst they examine their lives and make positive change.

My next step is a quick trawl around the internet.  The website talkingcure gives many examples of where research supports the idea that therapy is effective.  Most of this research has been carried out by health services of countries around the world to see if they are getting their monies worth out of their counselling services (money is a great motivator for research!).

The following studies are just a couple of the examples included on the site:

  • Chiles et al (1999) found that psychological services reduced medical expenses in patients undergoing surgery and those with a history of over utilization.  On average, there was a 20% saving, even when the cost of providing the services was subtracted from the savings.
  • Research* showed that therapy carried out with men who batter their wives proved highly successful with 60% of men not re-offending within the thirty month follow up period and the wives of these men feeling “very safe” in 83% of cases.

Smith and Glass (1977) carried out research into the effectiveness of different types of therapy.  Results of nearly 400 controlled evaluations of psychotherapy and counselling were coded and integrated statistically. The findings provided convincing evidence of the efficacy of psychotherapy. On the average they concluded that the typical therapy client was better off than 75% of untreated individuals.  More interestingly, they found that the type of therapy received by the client had little bearing on the rate of success.  This is further evidence for the idea that it is what happens between the client and the therapist, the relationship that forms, that is the deciding factor for a successful outcome.

Martindale (1978) questions the validity of research into the effectiveness of psychotherapy and states that answering a question such as “does therapy work” is impossible as there are too many variables.  All clients are different, all therapists are different. He argues that a therapist may be effective for one client but ineffective for another.  It’s easy to see the logic of this argument and how we know which therapist is best for us will be the subject of another entry at a later date.

So where have we got to so far?  Both research and personal experience support the idea that therapy can be useful.  I appreciate that I have only given evidence of three research studies but I invite you to follow my links and check out my references for dozens of studies that conclude therapy is effective.

This does not mean however that we need to run to our nearest therapist and sign up for a course of treatment!  Going into therapy is a very personal and often very frightening step for many to take.  You take that step when you are ready to engage with the process and feel in your heart that it’s right for you.  I remember my first session even to this day.  I arrived fifteen minutes early and “cased” the joint to see if there was anyone around who would spot me going in. I seriously considered turning around and going back home!  Eventually I plucked up the courage, knocked on the door and therein began this journey.

I think that initial step of seeking emotional support from others may be more difficult for men than for women. This is backed up by the suicide figures for each sex where in 2008 where per 100000 of the UK population, 17.7 men committed suicide compared to just 5.4 women (age standardised rates taken from www.statistics.gov.uk).  Once more, I’m sure this will feature as a subject in my future writings.

So, to conclude, I would say that yes, therapy does work.  It can be an effective means to resolve problems as wide ranging as anxiety, stress, sexual identity, depression, lack of purpose, jealousy and a multitude of other issues that we can have whirling through our heads at particular times in our lives.  So when you’re ready, if you want to, pick up a phone and make that first appointment.

References

Chiles, J. et al. (1999). The impact of psychological interventions on medical cost offset: a meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology, 6(2), 204-220.

Martindale, C. “The Therapist-as-Fixed-Effect Fallacy in Psychotherapy Research”. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1978, Vol. 46, No. 6, 1526-1530

*Peterson, K. (July 27, 1988). Programs help men unlearn violence. USA Today, p. 1.

Smith, M. and Glass, G. “Meta-Analysis of Psychotherapy Outcome Studies”.  American Psychologist. September 1977. p752-760.

Why All Teachers Should Learn Transactional Analysis

By

teachers should learn transactional analysisI am a lucky man because I work in two areas that I enjoy and find fascinating. These are the vocations of teaching and psychotherapy and I love it when they come together. This is lucky because they come together frequently. In fact they’re rarely apart. Teaching is about relationships. Psychotherapy is about relationships. They are made for each other.

There is an unfortunate trend in education over the last few years. We seem to have moved away from relationships and towards “measurable outcomes”. We can measure a child’s IQ, CAT score, SAT score, GCSE grade, AS level etc etc. but it’s pretty hard to put a number on how happy he or she is at school and whether he feels cared for, nurtured, respected, inspired or safe. My argument is that all of these things are essential before any learning can take place. Once they are secure then the child may fly. She can feel safe enough to have a go, make mistakes and learn that it’s OK. Then real learning begins.

Who inspired you?

Look back at the teachers you found inspiring at school. Were they the ones that marked your homework on time? Was it the way in which they set work for you that you remember? The thing that we remember about our special teachers is how they connected with us. How we felt when we were with them. I remember clearly how I felt with my English teacher when I was I kid. I felt valued, inspired and special and I loved going to English lessons. For most homework assignments I would do the minimum just to make sure I didn’t get into trouble (typical boy). For my English teacher I would write reams!

So what’s all this got to do with Transactional Analysis? In order for a child to learn anything within the classroom setting you need a good teacher to facilitate the process. Teaching is a demanding, stressful and high pressured vocation where the humanness of the teacher is often forgotten by all parties. This is regularly demonstrated by excited children running up to teachers during the school day to tell them “I saw you in Tescos”! Yep, teachers have to eat too! As teachers we often forget that we are human too and we are not our jobs. We take poor behaviour in our classrooms personally, feel stressed when we are being observed (mention Ofsted to a teacher and they tend to react as if they are to be visited by the grim reaper to have their very soul brought to judgment) and find it difficult to unwind in the long holidays we are endlessly lambasted for.

How can Transactional Analysis help teachers?

Transactional Analysis offers teachers a way of understanding what is happening on a social level within the classroom and within themselves. It provides a map, a framework to start hanging experiences on.

Here’s a list of a few features of transactional analysis and how they can be used by teachers;

  • Ego states – once understood, teachers can figure out what’s going on with their thinking, feeling and behaviour in the classroom and choose to respond rather than react.
  • Transactional Analysis Proper – teachers can use their knowledge of TA proper to keep irate children (and parents!) placated, cut dead unproductive conversations and make their points seem clear during lessons.
  • Strokes – the understanding of the stroke economy makes the poor behaviour of some children more comprehendible and encourages teachers to be positive in their classrooms as a method of behaviour management. I’ve done a lot of work with students explicitly discussing strokes and the stroke economy, they find it fascinating too!
  • Games – there are many games played out in the classroom including “Do Me Something”, Wooden Leg”, “If It Wasn’t For You” and “Now I’ve Got You, You S.O.B”. If teachers understand them they can avoid them or at least be aware when they enter into them and avoid the negative payoff for themselves (for example, that common feeling of hopelessness that teachers can feel, or feelings of anger) and for the students.
  • Scripts – understanding our own script helps us language why we wanted to be a teacher in the first place and gives us permission to pursue our vocation from a positive place.

My examples above barely scrape the surface of the uses of TA within teaching and there are many more aspects of TA such as the drama triangle, the OK corral, script matrix, discounting that are also very useful.

By learning Transactional Analysis a teacher can gain more insight to how human relationships tick. They can make more sense of the behaviour they see around them and put it into a wider context. Transactional Analysis provides a language to explain why certain classroom management techniques are going to be more effective than others and gives permission for the teacher to retain humanness in the face of adversity.

Transactional Analysis brings greater awareness into the classroom and with this comes options and the possibility of doing things differently.

Transactional Analysis Core Principles

By

transactional analysis core principlesTransactional Analysis is one way of understanding human personality. It was the brainchild of Eric Berne who trained as a psychoanalyst but became disillusioned with the methods he was expected to follow and wanted a more equal approach to the therapist/client relationship.

There are three basic philosophical assumptions in Transactional Analysis:

1) People are OK. This roles off the Tongue easily but I think it’s important to examine what this means. This is the fundamental acceptance that regardless of what you do, no matter what you think, or despite your feelings you are a worthwhile, valuable person in your own right. You are special. Everyone is special. We are all as important as each other. How amazing is that as a first principle?!  This principle carries itself directly into the theraputic relationship between therapist and client.  We are both equal.  We share the responsibility of cure.  To make sure that both therapist and client are sure of what their goal is, TA therapists work with contracts – a clear written down agreement between both parties stating the goal of the therapy taking place.

2) We can all think. If we have all got the capacity to think then we have all got the capacity to work out what we want and work out how to get there. The therapists job is to support and guide you in this task but you do not need anyone else to decide for you. You know what’s best for you.  For many clients entering therapy it may not feel this way when they start.  Some feel confused and unsure and are looking for the therapist to tell them what to do.  The therapist will work with the client on clearing this confusion.  It’s a bit like wiping condensation off a mirror so we can see ourselves once more.

3) People decide their own destiny and have the power to change these decisions at any time. If we got to where we are today because of the decisions that we made then it’s within our power to change these decisions. We can be who we want to be and achieve our goals if that’s what we choose to do.  I’m not suggesting that this is always easy.  Small changes may start the process and build up to larger changes when it feels safe.  It’s about getting around the barriers to change together.  Sometimes they need kicking down, sometimes we go round them and sometimes we realise that although they look like they are there, when we examine them up close, they are not there at all!

If you would like to have transactional analysis therapy in Manchester with me, use my contact form above or ring me on 07966 390857.