Talking Therapies

Talking therapies are treatments, which involve talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

There are many different types of talking therapy but they all aim to:

• give you a safe time and place to talk to someone who won’t judge you
• help you make sense of things and understand yourself better
• help you resolve complicated feelings, or find ways to live with them help you recognise unhelpful patterns in the way you think or act, and find ways to change them (if you want to)

Is there a difference between ‘therapy’ and ‘counselling’?

At SAMH, we usually use the term ‘talking therapy’, but you might also hear people talk about:

• counselling
• therapy
• psychotherapy
• psychological therapy
• talking therapy

Download our information publication: Understanding Talking Therapies

Our resource explains what talking therapies are, what happens during therapy, how to the most from the therapy and how to find a therapist. Download your copy below. For more information on mental health problems and other support, check out the SAMH Information Service.