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Talking therapies are treatments which involve talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. There are many different types of talking therapy, but they all aim to: give you a safe time and place to talk to someone who won't judge you. help you make sense of things and understand yourself better.
In mental healthcare, understanding the difference between process and content is essential when conducting effective therapy. This article explains what these terms mean and why they matter in different therapeutic settings. Practical examples demonstrate how process and content work in practice.
- What Is Content Versus Process in Therapy?
- How to Ask Process Questions in Therapy
- How to Ask Bad Questions in Therapy
- Start Sessions More Effectively
- Suggestions Regarding Talkative Clients
- Considering Yalom’s Content vs Process
Content: stories about what happened; shared at length and with extraneous detailsProcess: accessing the client’s internal experience and working through parts of itWhen a client is discussing something important to them, let them tell the initial story and listen until your client invites youto help them. Otherwise, and after initial sessions* you should mostly ask ‘process’ questions that: 1. Focus on the client themselves and their internal experience 2. Help the client ‘slow down’ and reflect on ideas or f...
Again, this can be different in first sessions and/or when risk assessing, but in general, unhelpful questions are content-based and: 1. Focus on other people and their actions, versus focusing on your client 2. Are about the ‘story’ and unhelpful details 3. Ignore themesand affect 4. “What did she say after that?” 5. “What did your father-in-law d...
We need to let clients share their initial story in session one, and we often get a small update at the start of each session with some clients. How you begin those subsequent sessions has a significant impact on their progression. I try to be friendly and get small talk out of the way during the walk from my waiting room to my office (though, we c...
Start the next session by immediately addressing it so things don’t run away from you again, by discussing guidelines about how the time would be best spent:Consult with a supervisor or experienced colleague so you have a clear idea of how to structure the next session. The details of every case are different, and advice from people who aren’t familiar...It might become a bit of a contract; the client gets to vent for Xminutes at the beginning of each session.A classic approach: I validate that their sharing demonstrates their legitimate need for connection and to feel understood, and we come up with relevant homework about where else they could get tho...It would be shortsighted of me to ignore Irvin Yalom’s contributionsto this area of counselling. He has a slightly different perspective: 1. Content: the words spoken and the issues addressed in the therapy hour 2. Process: “the interpersonal relationship between the patient and therapist…what do the words (and the nonverbal behavior as well) tell ...
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It's most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems.
Talking therapies, or psychological therapies, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners. They can help if you're struggling with things like feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Home. > Information and support. > Drugs and treatments. > What happens in therapy. Talking therapy and counselling. Explains what talking therapies are, what happens during therapy, how to get the most from therapy and how to find a therapist. What to expect from therapy. It's common to feel worried or unsure about what to expect from therapy.
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Self-help therapies are psychological therapies that you can do in your own time to help with problems like stress, anxiety and depression. They can be a useful way to try out a therapy like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to see if it's for you. They can also be convenient if: you're short of time. you have family or work commitments.
