Starting therapy

Finding a therapist that’s right for you might feel like a daunting task but our website and Register can help you find someone. Our ‘Thinking about Therapy?’ Hub contains helpful information around psychoanalytic therapy, what is involved and what to expect.

Our Register allows you to search for psychoanalytic therapists in a location convenient to you. When you choose someone from our Register, you can be assured they have been through a high standard of training and abide by our Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics and Guidance.

It is often helpful to have one or more preliminary consultations with a psychoanalytic therapist as this may help to clarify what your needs are.

When looking for a therapist, you should confirm that they are on a PSA accredited register, like the British Psychoanalytic Council’s Register. When you find a therapist who is on an accredited register, you can be certain that their training and experience has been verified as part of their registration and they are meeting important standards of practice.

If a therapist you’d like to work with says they are registered, you should be able to search their name in at least one of these registers. It is possible that your therapist is registered with more than one regulator.

Choosing the right therapist for you depends on a variety of factors. It is often helpful to have one or more preliminary consultations before deciding how best to proceed. If you found a therapist that you like and you want to know more about their qualifications, ask them in your consultation.

Psychoanalytic practitioners hold a position of great responsibility towards their patients and their profession. Their preparation and training in becoming a therapist is both very lengthy and rigorous. We require training organisations to maintain the highest standards, particularly regarding the selection and admission to trainings.

Many applicants for training will already be graduates from medicine, psychology, teaching or social work, and will possess relevant experience in the mental health field.

Psychoanalytic therapy takes place in a safe confidential space. It is usual for it to begin with a consultation where you will discuss whether and how your treatment will proceed. You may arrange to see your therapist once a week or you may arrange to see them more frequently, up to five times a week. This is called psychoanalysis.

If you commence an analysis you may lie down on a couch with your analyst sitting behind or beside you. Some psychoanalytic practitioners may seem less socially responsive and immediately reassuring than other therapists, who may take more of a trainer or coaching role. You will be encouraged to say whatever is going through your mind and your analyst will be closely tuned in and empathic, but will also be more neutral, keeping personal feelings and reactions private. If you are seeking help as a couple, it is likely that most of your sessions will take place together.

All of our therapists will allow you to speak freely and will help you notice hidden patterns and meanings in what you are saying or how you are responding to other people, day-to-day. The therapist will also be interested in the way you are relating to them, and how that links with other, possibly problematic relationships in your life.

A typical session will last 50 minutes, although couple, group or family work may be longer. It is impossible to say how long treatment will take. Because it is a therapeutic process, and the time it takes depends on the individual circumstances, it can vary from many months to several years.

Psychoanalytic therpay typically lasts much longer than some other therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). You may need more than one session per week because it aims to influence deeper layers of the personality, and the sources of the troubling thoughts and behaviour. The most comprehensive form of it is full psychoanalysis, occuring four or five times a week for several years.

Psychoanalytic treatments can produce significant rewards and people find themselves freed to live life more fully, to be more creative in all sorts of ways, and to better relate to and care for others. In common with many other professional services, fees can vary quite widely between practitioners, depending on experience, location and time of sessions. Fees are discussed and agreed before treatment begins.

If you feel like you would benefit from psychoanalytic therapy but can’t afford it, you may be eligible for low-fee therapy.

Some of our Registrants include on their profile if they are open to low-fee requests.

Many of our Member Institutions have clinics that offer low-fee therapy, we recommend visiting their websites or contacting them to find out more. Eligibility often depends on things like level of income and individual circumstances:

• Association of Jungian Analysts: Reduced Cost Analysis
• British Psychoanalytic Association: Low fee service
• Institute of Psychoanalysis: low fee clinic
• British Psychotherapy Foundation: Low-fee once weekly psychotherapy
• British Psychotherapy Foundation: Low-fee couple psychotherapy
• British Psychotherapy Foundation: Low-fee intensive psychotherapy
• Enfield Counselling Psychotherapy & Training: Free Assessments
• Gloucestershire Counselling Service: Reduced Rates (apply via registration process)
• Manor House Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling: low cost rate (for unemployed or those on benefits)
• Tavistock Relationships: lower cost therapy
• The Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy: Reduced fee therapy
• The Society of Analytical Psychology: Low cost Jungian analysis
• West Midlands Institute of Psychotherapy: Therapy with a trainee

If you are ever in any doubt about your therapists’ qualifications, in the first instance you should ask them.

If your therapist says they are registered with a regulator, you should be able to search their name in these registers and find them in at least once. It is possible that your therapist is signed up to more than one regulator.

If your therapist is registered with the BPC, that means that they will have gone through one or more of our accredited training courses or equivalent.

All BPC Registrants have to continually meet our Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics. For example, all BPC Registrants must make the care of their patients their primary concern and ensure a safe environment for patients. If you think your therapist, who is a BPC Registrant, has not met these standards you can report your concern to us.

Reflecting on past traumas and experiences can sometimes bring discomfort in therapy. It may be that your discomfort is a strong reaction you are having to your therapist and is part of the work. If your therapist is making you feel uncomfortable it can be helpful to discuss this with them. Some discomfort in therapy is part of the process but this should be held within the parameters of what’s manageable or bearable for you.

If you have discussed this discomfort with your therapist and still feel like the issue hasn’t been resolved, or you don’t feel like you can raise it with your therapist, you can contact us to report your concern.

If your therapist is not registered with a PSA accredited regulator, they are not being held to high professional standards. If you have a concern about a therapist who is not regulated, this cannot be investigated by any regulatory body.

It’s possible that a therapist who is not regulated has previously been removed from a voluntary register. Therapists who are removed from registers for not meeting the standards can legally continue to practise. The PSA and other accredited regulators work hard to publicise individuals that have been removed from the BPC Register, or have had other conditions made on their practice.

To read the published outcomes from each regulator, visit these websites:

• The Association of Child Psychotherapists: Members Under Sanction or Expelled
• Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions: Removals, suspensions and sanctions
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Professional conduct notices
• British Psychoanalytic Council: Interim Orders and Fitness to Practise Outcomes
• Human Givens Institute: Current upheld complaints
• The National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society: Professional Conduct Notices
• Play Therapy UK: Struck Off & Sanctioned Play Therapists
• UK Council for Psychotherapy: Decisions and hearings