At certain times in their lives, many people experience problems that are too difficult to handle alone. When their usual modes of coping with stress no longer work for them, they feel overwhelmed and may want to learn new ways of coping through psychotherapy. More longstanding problems can also be resolved with psychotherapy, which can address the underlying causes of ongoing distress.

People learn ways of responding to situations based on past experiences. Even though what they learned in the past may no longer be helpful, people tend to repeat old patterns of behaving, thinking and feeling. These patterns can be difficult to modify once they have become ingrained habits.

In psychotherapy, the psychologist can assist the client to understand these “habits”, to see alternatives, and to change.  Psychotherapy is a confidential process for exploring and changing patterns of behaving, thinking and feeling.  Two of the most important components of psychotherapy are genuine listening and accurate feedback.  Successful psychotherapy leads to new and more adaptive solutions for coping in the present and in the future.   

Some common problems that bring people to a psychologist for psychotherapy are:

.        Coping with stress

·        Depression

·        Anxiety

·        Anger

·        Grief

 
Psychotherapy and counselling can both help people during difficult times in their lives.  Counselling tends to be more supportive and directive, while psychotherapy tends to be more exploratory.