Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

The NHS website explains the different modalities within talking therapies including psychoanalytic therapy, behavioural and cognitive psychotherapies, family/couple therapies and hypno-psychotherapy.

For more information about the various approaches used in psychotherapy, you may find it helpful to visit the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) websites.

Opportunities also exist in the NHS for psychotherapists to work with adults. Such roles can be found in a range of areas, working with patients with learning disabilities and mental health problems. Multi-disciplinary teams working in these areas will include psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists and a range of therapists (including psychotherapists). Similarly, child psychotherapists also work in specialist CAMHS teams as part of a multidisciplinary team which will usually include a similar range of practitioners including therapists who are trained in systemic or cognitive therapy as well as psychoanalytic approaches. CAMHS teams work in collaboration with staff from many other children’s services including education and social services.

CAMHS cover all types of provision and intervention from mental health promotion and prevention, specialist services that are based in the community through to very specialist care as provided by in-patient units for young people with mental illness.

There are various places to train to be an adult psychotherapist. The only place for intensive psychoanalytic training is at the Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Other adult trainings for psychotherapy can be found at the Tavistock and the bpf.