Psychotherapy is a conversational treatment which works to enable you to better cope with negative emotion, to enjoy positive emotion and an enlivened state of mind and to build satisfying and enduring relationships.

Some counsellors and psychologists in Sydney practice a strand of counselling known broadly as psychotherapy.

Psychotherapists, or counsellors and psychologists who use psychotherapeutic techniques, tend to work with their clients at a deep level – closely investigating your experience of your relationships, your family history, your upbringing, life experience and personality.

These psychotherapeutic conversations allow you to understand more about how you function and how your functioning impacts how you respond to people and situations in your life.

Psychotherapists appreciate that our life experience and history has a lot to do with the person we are today. In particular, Psychotherapists may develop an understanding of your current situation based on the relationship rules and patterns which you leant in your family; often with a focus on your relationship with your parents. While family history is not always a focus of Psychotherapy, often an understanding is reached of how your history has shaped your interactions in significant future relationships, well into adulthood.

Understanding the basis of the relationships we developed and knew as children can help us understand and usefully deconstruct our relationships patterns as adults. You can learn so much about who you are, and why you react the way you do, if you look back to your childhood and your first relationship. Reviewing and comprehending your past can also help you better appreciate and understand your parents, and lead to a more fulfilling parent/child relationship. Indeed, it can help inform your own parenting style now or in the future, enabling you to avoid negative interaction patterns.

Psychotherapists can help you work on a range of emotional issues and behavioural problems. However, as a result of their treatment approach, psychotherapists tend to work best with clients who have long-standing issues or issues that define their personality. For example, psychotherapy can be particularly effective for:

  • clients who suffer from chronic depression (or dysthimia)
  • clients who experience generalised anxiety and have done so for most of their life
  • people who are stuck in recurring negative relationship patterns including those who have issues with trust, for e.g. some people find that a string of relationships have ended in the same or similar ways
  • someone who is experiencing a crisis of identity
  • someone who is dissatisfied with ingrained aspects of their personality

Read more in this related article about the types of psychotherapy. Or call us to enquire about making an appointment with Psychotherapist in Sydney.

At Associated Counsellors & Psychologists Sydney we work with a number of psychotherapists or counsellors and psychologists who use psychotherapeutic models in their work.

In addition, many of our counsellors have experience working with a range of different modalities, enabling them to select processes which best suit the needs of each particular client.

For more information, please contact us and our staff will be happy to assist you to select a Psychotherapist, Psychologist or Counsellor who can best help you.

Related topics

Our Services

We offer a variety of services dealing with wellbeing and mental health. Select from one of the options below for further details.