Uticopa Blog

When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark,
At the end of the storm is a golden sky.
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown,
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
 And you'll never walk alone.
 You'll never walk alone
                                      Rogers and Hammerstein

As the Liverpool anthem says ‘..hold your head up high..and you'll never walk alone.' That's as true today as when Rogers and Hammerstein first penned it. But what if you are so depressed that you need professional help? 

Talk therapy is everyday language for psychotherapy.  No matter what you call it, it is here to stay. It's a way for people with a mental disorder to understand their illness, and then deal with the stress, unhealthy thoughts and behaviour that so often go with it.

But because people come in all shapes and sizes, so too does talk therapy.  There is no ‘one-size-fits-all' solution.

Sometimes talk therapy on its own may be the best treatment for one person, whilst with another, it needs to be combined with medication. It all depends on the person's illness and severity level.

So, what kinds of talk therapy are there?

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one kind which is actually a mix of two:  cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy. These two combined approaches focus on a person's beliefs and thoughts and how these influence actions, mood. By so doing, they thereby aim to change unhealthy behaviour patterns.  But not only is the therapy combined, but also the main players:  you and your therapist.  Your therapist helps you to learn how to identify sometimes distorted thinking patterns, how to recognise and change beliefs that are inaccurate and, importantly, how to relate to others in more positive ways.

I have been diagnosed with depression.  Can CBT help me?

The simple answer is: yes. In fact, it is a particularly effective treatment for depression, especially for those with mild to moderate levels of the illness. It will help you to restructure any negative thought patterns you may have, whilst helping you interpret your environment and how to deal with others in a much more positive and realistic way.

But I'm not sure what triggers my depression.

CBT is a very effective way of helping people recognise the triggers to depression, and so help to avoid them if at all possible. One example is anxiety disorders. Where CBT can help here is by actually exposing sufferers to their specific phobias, thereby confronting individual fears in order to lessen anxiety and give sufferers the tools to cope with traumatic experiences or fearful memories.

Therapists often deal with many mental health symptoms, for which CBT is also effective. One such is bipolar disorder, which has recently been in the news via the celebrity sufferer, Stephen Fry.  Not only can CBT be effective for this disorder, but combined with medications such as mood stabilizers, it can be extremely effective in not only reducing the more extreme symptoms but also teach the sufferer how to recognise when a mood shift is about to occur.
CBT is also effective for treating eating disorders and schizophrenia, despite their challenging aspects. Sufferers learn how to deal with social, daily functioning and problem-solving skills.

I remember years ago there was a boy at school who committed suicide. How could talk therapy have helped him?

There is a form of behavioral therapy called DBT, which stands for Dialectical behavior therapy. ‘Dialectical' is a way of finding the ‘middle way' - something, incidentally, that would also be beneficial in today's difficult political world! DBT was specially developed to treat those with suicidal thoughts and actions. But therapy has moved on a lot since your traumatic school-time experience. Now, DBT can also be used to treat those with borderline personality disorder (BPD), which encompasses those with suicidal thoughts. A recent NIMH-funded study found that DBT reduced suicide attempts by half compared with other types of treatment.

I'm quite confused about all these different types of therapies

Yes, there is a wide range of therapies, some more interpersonal or family-focused, others varying according to age, type and level of suffering. The important thing is to find a therapist who suits you and your individual needs.  It is only by talking through everything that concerns you that you can start on the path to recovery.

The message is:  don't try to fight on alone.  As in the Liverpool anthem ‘Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart...and you'll never walk alone.'

There are trained people who can help you hold your head up high. If you are unsure where to begin, at Uticopa you can access over 10,000 therapists across the UK and Find a Therapist facility on this site allows you to search by male / female therapist, by your problem, type of session you want (telephone, face-to-face or online), by geographical location, language, therapy method and much more. You can also contact therapist through the secure messaging system. We hope that at Uticopa you can find the help you need.