Betsy Galloway - Accredited psychotherapist, York

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?

The difference between counselling and psychotherapy is generally acknowledged to be a result of the type and amount of training, personal therapy and supervised practice a therapist has undertaken, the depth of the therapeutic work a therapist can offer, and the length of time an effective treatment may involve. Generally counselling is a shorter term treatment for a specific current difficulty and psychotherapy is a longer-term treatment for longstanding problems. During our assessment session I will discuss with you if what you are seeking will be best achieved by counselling or psychotherapy.

What is Transactional Analysis?

Transactional Analysis is both a theory of personality and a psychotherapeutic system for the improvement of personal and social functioning, within the Humanistic tradition. Eric Berne, its founder, re-examined the basic assumptions of psychiatry and psychoanalysis, and developed a system of analysis which can be applied to the structure of the personality, interpersonal transactions, life plans or scripts, and the "games people play".

What does Humanistic mean?

The Humanistic tradition describes the philosophy that arose from the "personal growth movement". Humanism values the exploration and understanding of feelings, and encourages everyone to take responsibility for their thoughts and actions. It emphasises that everyone has a natural tendency towards personal growth and has the possibility of making changes and of fulfilling their potential.

What is Integrative psychotherapy?

When several distinct theoretical models such as human development theory, attachment theory, psychoanalytic theory or group analytic theory are used together in a converging way to deepen and enrich a core theoretical model such as Transactional Analysis, the psychotherapy is then described as Integrative Psychotherapy.

When is group psychotherapy useful?

Group psychotherapy is useful when the particular difficulties we experience are in relating to others. Everyone has conditioned habits and inflexible ways of experiencing themselves and interacting with others which may cause problems and diminish their quality of life. Group psychotherapy offers an appropriate environment for personal change, heightening our awareness of how we relate to ourselves, others and the world in general. The overall goal is to make us aware of our choices in relationships, to create more satisfying options for ourselves, to resolve our issues and move forward in our lives.