How Living at Choice Counselling, Psychotherapy and Creative Arts Therapy works

Counselling, psychotherapy and creative arts therapy have been shown to reduce anxiety in clients and assist them in increasing their resilience in dealing with specific life issues, or in coping with problems in living.  Some issues can be resolved through short-term counselling and may take only a limited number of sessions.  Other deeper issues related to how we are in the world and how our lives are being influenced by our past, may be better dealt with in long-term psychotherapy.

What’s the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?

Generally, counselling focuses on a specific issue you may be struggling with in your life and aims to assist you in finding ways in which to cope with that problem or view it from a different perspective.  Psychotherapy is similar to counselling, however, it tends to focus on how you are in the world as opposed to dealing with one particular issue in isolation. Psychotherapists have been specifically trained in creating a safe, long-term space where deeper issues can be explored and processed.

Research has shown that the quality of the relationship between the client and the therapist has a greater impact on the outcome of therapy than the specific type of approach used.  Both Mark Vahrmeyer and Sam Jahara work first and foremost to create and maintain a safe supportive relationship with you, beyond which they can apply their training in employing particular approaches to best facilitate your journey and growth.

With some clients, simply talking through issues and problems with a counsellor who can be fully present, can make all the difference.  With other clients, the use of artistic materials in a counselling or therapeutic setting may assist in unlocking painful emotions or provide a safe means of communicating difficult feelings.  Often in dealing with painful or sensitive issues relating to a client’s past and how these patterns are being repeated in the present, a highly structured and analytical approach can be most effective and it is the further training of a psychotherapist that facilitates this process.

Finally, there may also be instances where your therapist adopts a more structured theoretical approach specifically aimed at changing thought and behaviour patterns which are not serving you.  Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is an example of such an approach which has been shown to be particularly effective in working with anxiety, addiction, depression and in anger management.