Counselling

INTRODUCTION

Psychological health problems like stress, anxiety and depression can be partly triggered by external stressful events that happen to us such as difficult childhood, bereavement, divorce, redundancy and internal stressors like excess guilt, anger, fear etc. However research has also shown that it's not so much external events but out individual interpretation of these events that can play a crucial role in triggering and maintaining problems like stress, anxiety and depression. Stress, anxiety and depression have been shown to have a negative effect on our brain chemistry and this combined with psychological factors can effect our thinking style making us more vulnerable to developing anxiety and depression.

Psychological therapies like counselling have been shown to play an important role in helping us to recover and also help to reduce the chance of suffering a future relapse.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

There are over 400 different types of counselling, however one of the most researched and proven to be therapeutically effectiveis called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and we would encourage you to discuss CBT with your GP. The problem is that when we become clinically anxious or depressed we tend to be given a prescription for antidepressants. While these can be vital and life saving they don't address the psychological factors like negative thinking. Research has shown that when medication is combined with CBT the therapeutic effects are superior than either one on their own.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

CBT is a relatively new type of psychological counselling that has been developed by Psychiatrist Aaron Beck ph.D in the 1960's and refined into its present day format. It is a relatively short treatment, consisting of up to 10 - 15 treatment sessions. It helps us to identify the thinking errors that contribute to our negative thinking and exacerbate our anxiety and depression, and replaces them with a more accurate and positive way of thinking.

USEFUL BOOKS ON COGNITIVE THERAPY

1. Blackburn Ivy (1987) Coping with Depression, W & R Chambers Ltd, Edinburgh.

2. Burns D. (1990) The Feeling Good Handbook, Penguin Group.

3. Greenberger D. and Padesky C. (1995) Mind over Mood: Change how you Feel by Changing the Way you Think, Guildford Books.

4. Davis M. (1997) Thoughts and Feelings: A Workbook or Cognitive Behavioural Techniques, New Harbinger inc.