Silhouette of a couple against a beach backdrop.

What are the Benefits of Counselling and Psychotherapy?

Counselling and Psychotherapy can help with a range of issues that we may find difficult overcoming by talking to friends and family. There is a significant difference in talking to a skilled professional outside of your social and family circle, someone who is formally trained and experienced in what they do and understands how to…

Silhouette of a man and woman walking together wearing baseball caps.

How to prepare for couples counselling

So you have taken the difficult step to go to couple counselling – what do you do now? Obviously there are a lot of variables when it comes to couples’ attending counselling together. Some couples are both on the same page and have a common goal, albeit they are struggling to reach that goal, whereas…

A reflection in a puddle of a couple holding hands.

What Can Couples Counselling Help With?

Couples Counselling or Couples Therapy can help the couple communicate better, look at past influences on present behaviour and help the individuals within the couple understand themselves and their partner better. Depending on approach to couples therapy, the therapist will either work with the here-and-now issues and provide the couple with tools to better communicate…

A phrenology head.

How to get a Mental Health Diagnosis

The term ‘mental health’ is pretty broad and encompasses emotional and psychological health. When people talk about mental health they are often referring to symptoms such as depression or anxiety but rarely do they mean psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, for example. Therefore, the answer to how to go about getting a mental health diagnosis…

Four pebbles balanced on top of each other.

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a method of treating mental health issues through psychological, rather than medical means. Known as ‘the talking cure’ a psychotherapist’s role is to work with patients or clients, generally on a minimum of a weekly basis, over a period of months or years. The work takes place within what is called a ‘therapeutic…

A silhouette of a man with his arms open as if embracing the sun.

How to Improve Mental Health

Mental health is constantly in the news and not a day goes by without an article, blog post or news piece on the topic. The great contradiction is that whilst we know more about mental health now and how to manage it, the busy, chaotic and plugged-in world we live in does little to help…

The bearded lower face of a man holding his finger to his lips.

Antidotes to Coercive, Controlling and Narcissistic Behaviour

There have been many more articles written on Narcissism in recent times, as it seems to be the age we are living in. Narcissistic political, organisational, and religious leaders who lack accountability, manipulate information, and deny any wrongdoing has become a normal phenomenon across the world. This is not a new problem – narcissists have…

Brighton beach with two deck chairs.

Mental Health Problems in Brighton

Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, as the name would suggest, is an applied psychology practice located in central Brighton and Hove in operation since 2014. Whilst many of our clients travel from further afield to see and be seen by our clinicians, and whilst we offer online therapy, most of our clients over the years have…

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The Limitations of Online Therapy

Online psychotherapy is not a new concept; it was around before the pandemic and successfully used as a medium for delivering psychotherapy, counselling and coaching. However, what is new is how nearly all of us were obliged to work online to maintain continuity of sessions for our patients and clients during lockdown and how ubiquitous…

A brick path through vegetation.

“I’m interested in therapy but isn’t it a bit self-indulgent?”

Many people believe that they don’t have a justified reason to go to therapy. They may feel they haven’t had anything ‘bad enough’ happen to them, or feel it is too self-indulgent. They may not think they are worthy of the attention they will receive. The truth is everyone is worthy of therapy. Therapy can…

A male female sign on a door.

Does the sex of my counsellor or psychotherapist matter?

A question I have often either been asked or has come up up is whether the gender of the clinician matters (or should matter) to the client? The answer, as with most questions relating to the intricacies of psychotherapy is not categorically ‘yes’ or ‘no’. However, the question opens up other questions which may themselves…

A woman making a hand sign with the hands against the light.

How much time should I devote to self care?

In this blog I explore the concept of self care – what it means and how much time you need to consciously devote to active self care per day: it is probably less than you think! What do I mean by self care? In basic terms, self care refers to ‘looking after oneself’. Some people…