# Therapists.....cheap?



## easy g (Oct 20, 2005)

anyone know of any psychotherapists or CBT therapists around Bristol that work on a sliding scale or do v low prices for the unemployed/low wage types?


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## fractionMan (Oct 20, 2005)

Try the giving the BCPC a ring, prices start at 14 quid an hour and the therapists are pretty good.   They've got people all over, including bristol.  01225 466635.  That's the cheapest I know of.


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## DaveCinzano (Oct 20, 2005)

check the directory in 'the spark'


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## gentlegreen (Oct 20, 2005)

Avon Counselling and Psychotherapy Service (ACPS)

I had an evaluation session but found it wasn't for me - not least because it involved taking half of my busiest day off work at my own expense and paying 35 quid an hour (discount for unwaged).

Personally I'm finding my self-help group much more useful.

http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/OrganisationComponent/?Task=orgdetail&Organisation=61

.


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## easy g (Oct 21, 2005)

wondered about something like that....I know MIND do something along those lines


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## gentlegreen (Oct 21, 2005)

easy g said:
			
		

> wondered about something like that....I know MIND do something along those lines



http://www.changesbristol.co.uk/
Every monday - 7 till 10pm

.


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## easy g (Oct 23, 2005)

cheers fella


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## Sunspots (Oct 23, 2005)

There's usually a few ads in the back of each week's _Venue_ that offer discount rates.  

(-Tbh though, they're probably the same people as in the aforementioned _Spark_.)


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## Blagsta (Oct 23, 2005)

Try the BAP
http://www.bap-psychotherapy.org/reducedfee.html


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## easy g (Oct 23, 2005)

cheers...nowt in this area at the moment it seems but worth keeping an eye on


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## Zaskar (Oct 23, 2005)

Be wary of anyone too cheap, anything less than 30 quid an hour is philanthropic for the work involved and may reflect poorly on the quality of the deal.  If they are in training make sure thay are well mentored and in it for the long haul.

Make sure the person is properly qualified, it takes three years to become 'just' a councellor.  

IMHO you will really only get effective help via the theraputic route (CBT) by finding a therapist who is also a psychiatric nurse, psycholgist or psychiatrist and also be prepared to go every week for at least a year to gain real lasting benefit.  Unfortunately this level of therapist is likely to charge 50 an hour or more.

Therapy is a powerfull and effective treatment for many (me included) but a good expirienced therapist is never going to be cheap, also talking therapies can do real harm so do you really want a cheap option?

Do remember that many GPs will refer you for CBT and then of course it is free and likely to be from a very skilled and expirienced doctor.

Avoid any therapists that have an 'angle'.  There are lots of pseudo religous ones around (buddist especially), avoid any that claim things like 'a new life' or 'release your chi' or 'line up your chakras'.

Also life coaches should all be killed, they are about as usefull to a suffering soul as fenshui is to the homeless.

Personally I feel that any direct financial arrangement with a therapist from a client is prejudicial to the process, get a NHS one if you can.

Good luck.


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## easy g (Oct 23, 2005)

cheers...

waiting for an initial assesment from my new GP's (moved areas....was under my local Mental Health Unit but it seems I have to start all over again...). Was seeing one that was work funded before the move and I'm indeed looking at the CBT route now.


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## fractionMan (Oct 24, 2005)

I'd contest that good therapists cost 50 quid minimum.  Mine is perfectly good for my needs and costs 14.  Sure, I could have beter for 50, but who's got a spare 200 quid a month?  The rest of the advice is good nonetheless.  You have to be choosy.  If you don;t like them from the out, then don't go back and find someone else.


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## Serotonin (Oct 25, 2005)

The only problem with trying on the NHS for CBT is in Bristol its a massive post code lottery. If you live in the inner city/central sector of bristol you can pretty much kiss goodbye to being able to get NHS CBT anytime this side of 2010.
Other areas have slightly better access but its very patchy.


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## gentlegreen (Oct 25, 2005)

Is this therapy lark actually worthwhile if you don't actually have some readily defineable thing like a specific phobia ?

Personally at the stage I'm at, I reckon I'm mostly just a bit too aware that life is basically a bit shit ....  

(or rather in my case it _was _ *very * shit and now I'm just dealing with the regret about missed opportunities ...)

(I'm getting the hard sell on CBT from my self-help group at the moment)


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## kalidarkone (Oct 25, 2005)

gentlegreen said:
			
		

> Is this therapy lark actually worthwhile if you don't actually have some readily defineable thing like a specific phobia ?




Yes!!! I was in therapy for 6 years and didnt have any phobias..... its worked for me wonderfuly and is till working for me now-its something that stays with you ime. I would say the process is about finding out what is wrong and why, one dosent neccesarily know beforehand, apart from feelling really low, angry etc....

Easy- I know quite a few people that have had therapy through BCPC therapist in the 4th year of their training, which means that are already trained counsellors. The cost was usually around £12 -15 per session.


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## gentlegreen (Oct 26, 2005)

kalidarkone said:
			
		

> Yes!!! I was in therapy for 6 years and didnt have any phobias..... its worked for me wonderfuly and is till working for me now-its something that stays with you ime. I would say the process is about finding out what is wrong and why, one dosent neccesarily know beforehand, apart from feelling really low, angry etc....


Well I'll see what the quack says - I'm asking her for some more prozac.
If this therapy lark is that good maybe the NHS will pay for it .... 

.


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## TeeJay (Oct 26, 2005)

Zaskar said:
			
		

> ...be prepared to go every week for at least a year to gain real lasting benefit...



_"An important advantage of CBT is that it tends to be short, taking three to six months for most emotional problems. Clients attend a session a week, each session lasting either 50 minutes or an hour. During this time, the client and therapist are working together to understand what the problems are and to develop a new strategy for tackling them. CBT introduces them to a set of principles that they can apply whenever they need to, and which will stand them in good stead throughout their lives."_

Making sense of cognitive behaviour therapy (MIND factsheet)


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## fractionMan (Oct 26, 2005)

Gentle green -

CBT is good at adressing single issues.  But you need a more holistic approach for long term therapy.  Mine's a humanistic psychoterapist from the BCPC.


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## Zaskar (Oct 27, 2005)

TeeJay said:
			
		

> _"An important advantage of CBT is that it tends to be short, taking three to six months for most emotional problems. Clients attend a session a week, each session lasting either 50 minutes or an hour. During this time, the client and therapist are working together to understand what the problems are and to develop a new strategy for tackling them. CBT introduces them to a set of principles that they can apply whenever they need to, and which will stand them in good stead throughout their lives."_
> 
> Making sense of cognitive behaviour therapy (MIND factsheet)



Pedant.  I merely pass on my and my friends expiriences and the information gleened from doctors I work with.  For a specific and clearly defined 'simple' problem CBT can indeed offer a fastish gain but often people are far more complex and their needs more complicated than they or thier therapist may at first think.  Mine was a year (private) and it wasnt long enough, a person close to me got six months NHS and they actually went backwards but their problems were very complex.
It is important I think to have a goal and stop therapy when that goal is reached, it is possible to become a therapy junky.


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## kalidarkone (Oct 28, 2005)

gentlegreen said:
			
		

> If this therapy lark is that good maybe the NHS will pay for it ....
> 
> .




I think I may have said this to you before-IMO therapy is like buying a good pair of shoes, you want ones that fit and feel right and may have to shop around and choice is everything.... given that you work full time and are single do you not think it would be better for yourself to pay and have the choice of therapist, cos you sure as hell dont get much of a choice on the nhs, I also think its a good thing to invest in yourself and make the comittment. Luckily for me when I was in therapy I got it pretty cheap, but paying for it was part of the process..and I also had to pay for childcare as well, for 6 years, once a week, but I still maintain it was one of the best things I ever did and one of the only things that was truly for me and doing it and committing to going and paying in the first place was at least testiment to the fact that on some level I felt worth it.......I was!!!

This is not to take away from anyone that is in NHS therapy, I just belive that if you can afford it, one should pay for it.


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