Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a form of talking therapy that helps people understand thoughts, emotions and patterns of behaviour, and develop healthier ways of coping and relating. It is used for issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and relationship difficulties.

Different approaches exist (for example psychodynamic, integrative, CBT-informed), and a good therapist will explain what they offer and how progress will be reviewed.

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Psychotherapy is a broad term for structured talking therapies delivered by trained professionals. The focus may be on understanding deeper patterns and experiences, learning practical coping tools, improving relationships, or processing trauma—depending on the approach and your goals.

What happens in psychotherapy?

Sessions typically last around 50 minutes and take place weekly or fortnightly. Early sessions usually explore what you want help with, relevant life history, current stressors and what support would feel most useful. Your therapist should explain confidentiality, safeguarding and how they work.

What can psychotherapy help with?

Anxiety and panic symptoms
Depression and low mood
Trauma (including PTSD and complex trauma)
Grief and bereavement
Relationship and family difficulties
Low self-esteem and confidence

Different psychotherapy approaches

Psychotherapy can include psychodynamic therapy, person-centred therapy, integrative approaches, CBT-informed therapy, and more. The most effective approach often depends on your preferences, the issue, and the therapeutic relationship. Many people find that feeling safe and understood is a key part of progress.

How long does psychotherapy take?

Some people work in a time-limited way (for example 6–12 sessions) focused on a specific goal, while others choose longer-term therapy for deeper or more complex patterns. Agree a review point and talk openly about what is and is not helping.

When to seek urgent help

If you feel at immediate risk of harming yourself or others, seek urgent support via emergency services or a crisis service. A directory page can also include signposting to NHS 111 and local urgent mental health lines.

History of Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy developed through the late 19th and 20th centuries as psychological theories and clinical practices evolved. Different schools of psychotherapy emerged—some focused on insight and early experiences, others on behaviour change and coping skills.

In the UK today, psychotherapy includes a wide range of evidence-informed approaches delivered in private practice, community services and the NHS, with professional standards set by recognised training pathways and ethical frameworks.

Typical conditions that use Psychotherapy

Condition	Evidence	Notes
Addiction / dependency support	strong	Psychotherapy explores the underlying patterns and pain that fuel addiction, supporting lasting recovery.
Anger issues	strong	Explores the deeper roots of recurring anger, including past experiences, so reactions become easier to understand and manage.
Anxiety	strong	Explores the underlying drivers of anxiety and builds lasting coping; a core treatment option.
Attachment issues	strong	Psychotherapy explores how formative relationships left their mark, allowing healthier patterns of connection to develop over time.
Cancer emotional support (men)	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper grief, identity shifts and relationship strains that a cancer diagnosis can stir up in men over time.
Caregiver stress	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper feelings, losses and relationship shifts that caring stirs up, supporting longer-term resilience.
Chronic illness adjustment	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper emotional impact of chronic illness, supporting people to rebuild identity and meaning alongside their condition.
Compulsive behaviours	strong	Longer-term psychotherapy explores the underlying feelings and patterns behind compulsions, supporting lasting change in the behaviour.
Depression	strong	Explores the deeper roots of depression and supports lasting recovery; a core treatment.
Difficulty reaching orgasm	strong	Explores deeper emotional conflicts, past experiences or inhibitions that may unconsciously hold back sexual release.
Domestic abuse recovery support (sensitive)	strong	Psychotherapy explores how abusive relationships shape beliefs about safety and trust, supporting recovery from complex trauma and its lasting emotional effects.
Eating disorder recovery support (alongside specialist care)	strong	Explores the deeper emotional roots of disordered eating, supporting lasting change in self-image and the patterns that maintain the illness.
Emotional dysregulation (neurodiversity)	strong	Psychotherapy explores the roots of recurring emotional overwhelm, helping neurodivergent clients understand and regulate their responses over time.
Emotional eating	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and past experiences that link difficult emotions to eating for comfort.
Emotional regulation difficulties	strong	Explores the deeper patterns behind intense or unstable feelings, helping you understand their roots and respond to them differently.
Erectile dysfunction	strong	Explores deeper emotional patterns and anxieties around intimacy that may underlie persistent erectile difficulties.
Family conflict	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and old wounds driving family conflict, helping members understand and change entrenched dynamics.
Feeling overwhelmed	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and demands behind feeling overwhelmed, helping you understand and reset your limits.
Friendship difficulties	strong	Psychotherapy looks at deeper relational patterns, often rooted in earlier experiences, that shape how you bond with and trust friends today.
Gambling problems	strong	Psychotherapy looks at deeper emotional patterns and unmet needs that may fuel compulsive gambling, supporting lasting change in behaviour.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)	strong	Explores the deeper drivers of generalised anxiety and builds lasting coping.
Grief and bereavement	strong	Deeper support where grief is complicated, prolonged or tied to other losses.
Guilt	strong	Explores the deeper roots of guilt, including past relationships and unmet expectations, to understand why self-blame took hold.
Gut-brain stress symptoms	strong	Explores deeper emotional stress and patterns that play out in the body, helping reduce the gut symptoms linked to that distress.
Health anxiety	strong	Psychotherapy can uncover deeper anxieties and past experiences that fuel persistent worry about having a serious illness.
Imposter syndrome	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper roots of imposter feelings, such as early experiences and core beliefs that drive a persistent fear of being exposed.
Intimacy concerns	strong	Explores deeper relational patterns and early experiences that may underlie ongoing difficulties with closeness and intimacy.
Intimacy difficulties	strong	Explores the deeper, often unconscious patterns and early relationships shaping how you connect and allow yourself to be close.
Intrusive thoughts	strong	Psychotherapy explores the underlying conflicts and anxieties that can give rise to repetitive, unwanted intrusive thoughts.
Irritability	strong	Psychotherapy examines deeper emotional patterns and unmet needs that can fuel chronic irritability and a short temper.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)	strong	Talking therapy can address the anxiety, stress and past experiences that often interact with and intensify IBS symptoms.
Jealousy	strong	Psychotherapy explores the early experiences and insecurities that shape jealousy, helping you understand its roots and respond differently.
Leadership coaching goals	strong	Psychotherapy helps leaders understand deeper patterns shaping how they wield authority, handle conflict and respond under pressure.
Libido concerns (supportive)	strong	Psychotherapy explores deeper emotional patterns, past experiences and self-esteem issues that can quietly diminish sexual desire.
Life transitions / adjustment issues	strong	Psychotherapy explores deeper patterns and past experiences shaping how you respond to change, supporting lasting adjustment to new circumstances.
Loneliness	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and past experiences that make forming and sustaining close relationships feel difficult.
Long-term condition coping	strong	Explores deeper patterns and losses tied to living with illness, supporting lasting emotional adjustment over time.
Low confidence	strong	Explores the roots of low confidence and supports lasting change in self-image.
Low libido	strong	Explores deeper emotional patterns, past experiences and relationship dynamics that can shape and lower sexual desire.
Low mood	strong	Explores the roots of persistent low mood and supports lasting change; a core treatment option.
Low mood in men	strong	Explores the deeper emotional roots and life pressures behind a man's low mood, supporting lasting change over time.
Low motivation	strong	Looks at deeper causes of persistent low motivation and supports change.
Motivation and goal setting	strong	Explores the deeper patterns and conflicts that sap drive, helping you understand why goals stall and reconnect with personal direction.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)	strong	Psychotherapy explores the underlying fears and patterns driving obsessions and compulsions, helping reduce their grip over time.
Painful sex (dyspareunia)	strong	Explores deeper emotional and relational roots, such as past experiences, that may sustain the body's pain response to sex.
Panic attacks	strong	Psychotherapy explores the underlying emotional patterns and unresolved experiences that may be triggering recurring panic attacks.
Panic disorder	strong	Explores the deeper emotional patterns and unresolved conflicts that can drive panic, helping reduce the frequency and intensity of attacks.
Parenting stress	strong	Explores deeper patterns, including your own upbringing, that shape how you respond to your children under pressure.
Pelvic pain	strong	Deeper support where pelvic pain is entangled with trauma, relationships or distress.
People pleasing	strong	Psychotherapy traces people-pleasing to early relational patterns, helping you understand and gradually loosen the need to appease others.
Perfectionism	strong	Psychotherapy looks at the deeper roots of perfectionism, such as early experiences and self-worth tied to achievement.
Performance anxiety	strong	Explores the deeper origins of performance anxiety, such as fear of judgement or past criticism, to ease the pressure felt in evaluative settings.
Phobias	strong	Psychotherapy looks beneath the phobia at earlier experiences that shaped it, helping you understand and lessen the fear response.
Postnatal emotional support	strong	Deeper support for postnatal emotional difficulties, including identity and relationship change.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)	strong	Psychotherapy offers a safe space to work through traumatic experiences and the relationship and emotional difficulties PTSD often brings.
Pregnancy anxiety support	strong	Deeper support for pregnancy anxiety, including past loss or trauma.
Premature ejaculation	strong	Psychotherapy explores deeper emotional patterns, past experiences and anxieties that can underlie persistent difficulty in controlling ejaculation.
Procrastination	strong	Psychotherapy explores deeper patterns, such as self-doubt or fear of failure, that keep tasks unstarted and procrastination self-reinforcing.
Public speaking nerves	strong	Examines the deeper roots of your dread of being watched and judged, helping reshape how you experience attention from others.
Relationship stress (men)	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and past experiences shaping how a man relates to a partner, easing recurring sources of relationship tension.
Resilience building	strong	Explores the deeper patterns and past experiences shaping how you cope, helping you develop more durable emotional strength over time.
Rumination / overthinking	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and unresolved feelings that can fuel persistent rumination and mental looping.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)	strong	Talking therapy offers space to explore how shortening days affect your mood and to develop coping strategies for the winter slump.
Self-harm thoughts (sensitive)	strong	Explores the deeper emotional patterns and unmet needs driving self-harm, supporting lasting change over time.
Separation / divorce support	strong	Explores deeper patterns and attachment wounds the separation has stirred up, supporting longer-term emotional recovery.
Sexual difficulties	strong	Psychotherapy can uncover deeper emotional or past experiences that may underlie persistent sexual difficulties.
Sexual performance anxiety (supportive)	strong	Explores deeper emotional roots, past experiences and relationship patterns that may underlie recurring performance anxiety in intimate situations.
Sexual wellbeing concerns (supportive)	strong	Explores deeper emotional patterns, past experiences and relationship dynamics that shape how someone experiences desire, arousal and intimacy.
Shame	strong	Psychotherapy explores the early experiences and relationships from which shame grew, helping you understand and gradually release it.
Skin picking (dermatillomania) support	strong	Psychotherapy can address underlying anxiety, perfectionism or emotional distress that often drive compulsive skin picking.
Sleep anxiety	strong	Explores deeper roots of nighttime fear and unresolved worry, helping you understand why bedtime feels threatening rather than restful.
Social anxiety	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper roots of social fear, such as early experiences of criticism or shame, helping reshape how you relate to others.
Social isolation	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and past experiences driving withdrawal, supporting more secure, lasting connections.
Stammering (stuttering)	strong	Psychotherapy can help unpack deeper feelings of shame or social anxiety tied to stammering and how it shapes self-image over time.
Trauma after accident or assault	strong	Explores how the accident or assault has affected your sense of self and relationships, working through it at a manageable pace.
Trouble falling asleep	strong	Addresses underlying stress or anxiety that is disrupting sleep.
Trouble staying asleep	strong	Psychotherapy can uncover underlying tensions or unresolved feelings that disturb deeper sleep, helping reduce the frequency of night-time waking.
Trust issues	strong	Explores how past betrayals or attachment wounds drive present wariness, working through them to allow safer connection with others.
Vaginismus	strong	Explores deeper emotional or relational roots of the muscle guarding, helping ease the fear that triggers tightening on penetration.
Weight management (behaviour change support)	strong	Psychotherapy explores deeper emotional patterns linked to eating, supporting changes that underpin sustained weight management.
Work-life balance	strong	Explores the deeper patterns and beliefs behind chronic overcommitment, helping you understand why switching off from work feels so hard.
Workplace stress	strong	Psychotherapy explores the deeper patterns and beliefs behind your response to work pressures, supporting lasting change in how you cope.
Acne-related confidence concerns	moderate	Psychotherapy explores how appearance worries tied to acne shape identity and relationships, supporting a steadier sense of self.
ADHD (support / coaching alongside medical care)	moderate	Psychotherapy explores how ADHD has shaped self-image, relationships and coping patterns over time, addressing deeper emotional roots behind day-to-day difficulties.
Asthma-related anxiety support (adjunct)	moderate	Explores deeper patterns behind health anxiety, helping you process the fear and hypervigilance that breathing difficulties can provoke.
Autism / ASC support	moderate	Psychotherapy supports autistic clients in exploring self-understanding, masking and past experiences at their own pace.
Bipolar disorder (support alongside medical care)	moderate	Explores the deeper patterns and relationships shaping mood episodes, building insight and stability over the course of bipolar disorder.
Body image concerns	moderate	Psychotherapy explores the deeper roots of body dissatisfaction, such as past criticism or trauma, to loosen long-held negative self-perceptions.
Boundary issues	moderate	Explores the early patterns and relationships that shaped your difficulty with boundaries, supporting lasting change.
Burnout	moderate	Explores the deeper drivers of burnout, such as perfectionism or difficulty saying no.
Career change support	moderate	Psychotherapy can uncover deeper patterns shaping your working life, helping you understand what a career change really means for you.
Chronic fatigue syndrome / ME support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy can help with the anxiety, low mood and identity changes that frequently arise when living with ME/CFS.
Complex PTSD	moderate	Offers a sustained relationship to work through the deep-rooted relational wounds and identity disruption seen in complex PTSD.
Confidence building	moderate	Psychotherapy explores the roots of low self-worth, helping you understand and shift longstanding patterns that erode confidence.
Co-parenting challenges	moderate	Helps a parent understand how their own history shapes reactions to an ex-partner, easing the patterns that drive co-parenting conflict.
Eczema stress impact support	moderate	Explores deeper emotional patterns and anxiety that may worsen eczema, helping you cope with a long-term, visible skin condition.
Endometriosis support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy explores how long-term pain and its effects shape mood and identity, building resilience for living with endometriosis.
Exam stress	moderate	Psychotherapy explores deeper roots of performance anxiety, such as perfectionism, that drive recurring exam stress.
Executive dysfunction	moderate	Psychotherapy can explore the deeper patterns and emotional habits that undermine self-regulation, supporting steadier organisation over time.
Fatherhood adjustment	moderate	Psychotherapy explores how a man's own upbringing and relationship with his father shape his expectations, easing the deeper conflicts that fatherhood can surface.
Fatigue	moderate	Psychotherapy can address deeper emotional strain or unresolved issues that sap motivation and sustain a draining sense of exhaustion.
Fertility stress (emotional support)	moderate	Explores deeper feelings of loss, identity and self-worth that fertility difficulties can stir up over time.
Focus and concentration difficulties	moderate	Psychotherapy can uncover emotional patterns or anxiety that fragment attention, helping you understand what keeps disrupting your focus.
Food-related anxiety (supportive)	moderate	Psychotherapy explores the deeper emotional roots of food-related anxiety, supporting a more settled relationship with eating over time.
Hair loss-related distress	moderate	Explores the deeper feelings and identity concerns that hair loss can stir up, easing longer-standing distress.
High blood pressure stress support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy explores deeper stress, anger or anxiety patterns linked to blood pressure, supporting steadier responses alongside medical care.
Language and communication difficulties (speech/language)	moderate	Psychotherapy can help address the emotional impact and relationship strain linked to longstanding communication difficulties, alongside dedicated speech support.
Learning difficulties support (non-diagnostic)	moderate	Explores the deeper emotional impact of learning difficulties, helping build self-understanding, resilience and a more positive sense of identity.
Lipolymphoedema support	moderate	Psychotherapy can address the deeper emotional and relationship strain of adjusting to a lifelong, appearance-affecting condition.
Low energy	moderate	Psychotherapy explores deeper emotional patterns, burnout or unresolved difficulties that can underlie ongoing tiredness and a lasting lack of vitality.
Low self-esteem	moderate	Explores the origins of low self-esteem and supports lasting change.
Lymphoedema (lymphedema)	moderate	Psychotherapy can help you work through the longer-term emotional strain of adjusting to a chronic, visible condition such as lymphoedema.
Memory concerns (supportive)	moderate	Explores underlying anxiety, grief or stress that may be undermining concentration and clouding day-to-day memory.
Multiple sclerosis support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy helps people with MS work through grief, identity changes and anxiety arising from living with a long-term neurological condition.
Non-restorative sleep	moderate	Explores deeper emotional patterns that may underlie persistently poor-quality sleep, helping reduce the arousal that keeps rest from feeling restorative.
Parkinson’s support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy can help with the longer-term emotional and identity challenges of Parkinson's, complementing rather than replacing medical treatment.
PCOS support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy can help work through the deeper emotional effects of living with PCOS, such as anxiety and changes to identity.
Perimenopause symptoms	moderate	Psychotherapy explores the deeper emotional and identity shifts that perimenopause can stir up, supporting mood and self-understanding.
Peripheral neuropathy support (adjunct)	moderate	Explores the emotional toll of chronic nerve symptoms, helping you adjust to changes in function and rebuild a sense of control.
PMDD support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy explores deeper emotional patterns and triggers that PMDD amplifies, supporting longer-term wellbeing across the cycle.
Post-viral fatigue support	moderate	Deeper therapeutic work can help you adjust to a changed pace of life and the loss and uncertainty that a lingering recovery often brings.
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)	moderate	Psychotherapy can explore deeper emotional patterns behind premenstrual distress, helping women understand and manage cyclical mood changes.
Psoriasis stress impact support	moderate	Psychotherapy explores how a lifelong visible condition affects identity and mood, helping reduce the chronic stress that can drive psoriasis flares.
Relationship conflict	moderate	Explores the deeper patterns and past experiences each partner brings, shedding light on why the same conflicts keep repeating.
Sedentary lifestyle support	moderate	Explores deeper patterns of avoidance or low mood that keep you sedentary, helping you reconnect with movement over time.
Sensory overload	moderate	Psychotherapy explores the deeper emotional patterns linked to sensory overwhelm, helping you understand reactions and develop steadier responses to triggers.
Stroke recovery support (adjunct)	moderate	Psychotherapy supports survivors working through grief, anxiety or relationship changes after stroke, aiding longer-term emotional adjustment.
Time management	moderate	Psychotherapy can uncover deeper patterns of avoidance or self-sabotage that undermine planning and consistent follow-through.
Tremor support	moderate	Psychotherapy can help you adjust emotionally to a tremor's impact on confidence, work and relationships over time.
Vertigo support	moderate	Provides longer-term support for the anxiety, low mood and avoidance that chronic vertigo can drive, alongside appropriate medical treatment.
Voice problems	moderate	Psychotherapy can address deeper emotional patterns linked to psychogenic voice loss, where distress affects how freely you can speak.
Chronic cough impact support	limited	Psychotherapy can help with the distress and disrupted daily life a chronic cough causes; evidence is limited and it should sit alongside appropriate medical care.
Cravings	limited	Psychotherapy may help explore deeper patterns underlying persistent cravings; evidence here is limited and it complements, not replaces, appropriate care.
Daytime sleepiness	limited	Exploring underlying anxiety, depression or trauma that disrupts sleep may indirectly ease daytime sleepiness, alongside appropriate professional assessment.
Habit change / behaviour change	moderate	Looks at the deeper patterns behind entrenched habits and supports change.
Post-surgery swelling support	limited	Psychotherapy offers supportive, complementary help in coping with the frustration and low mood that prolonged post-surgical swelling can bring, alongside your medical care.
Swelling (oedema)	limited	Talking therapy can offer supportive space to manage the frustration of living with chronic swelling, but evidence for any direct effect is limited and it should not replace proper medical assessment.

Frequently asked questions

How is psychotherapy different from counselling?

There is overlap. Psychotherapy may explore longer-term patterns and deeper themes; approaches vary by training.

How long does psychotherapy last?

Anything from time-limited work to longer-term therapy, agreed around your aims.

Is psychotherapy suitable if I take medication?

Yes; many people combine both. Medication decisions should be discussed with your prescriber.