Types of Therapy

There are many different types of therapy. Based on our initial meeting with you, we can jointly decide which might be the most helpful for you. Below are some of the more common therapies we offer at Brandon Centre.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a type of ‘structured’ talking therapy that helps you to understand how your thoughts relate to how you behave, and the impact of these on how you feel. It can be helpful for a range of problems, such as managing stress, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

CBT tends to be a short-term therapy, taking three to six months, but can be extended according to your individual needs. You would usually attend weekly sessions lasting 50 minutes, and you may do small tasks in between the sessions as part of the therapy. Your therapist works together with you to understand what the problems are and develop strategies to tackle them.

CBT focuses on what is going on in the here and now rather than the past, but it will also explore how thinking patterns may have begun when you were younger, and how events in your past have shaped the way that you currently think, feel and behave. You would gain skills to apply to other areas of your life, which will help you to cope with future difficulties.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

These are ‘unstructured’ exploratory therapies. You will be asked to talk about whatever is on your mind. Your therapist will help you identify patterns and hidden meanings with the aim of supporting you to understand yourself better and make changes in your life.

You are likely to be encouraged to explore your early childhood experiences and use these to try and make sense of your current feelings, choices and relationships.

These therapies can help with a range of difficulties including relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression and eating difficulties and trauma.
Sessions will take place at the same time and place each week and last for 50 minutes. These therapies tend to be longer-term.

Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)

Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) is a 16-session weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy for older adolescents (17 years and above) who are experiencing depression. The sessions last 50 minutes and provide you with a safe place to talk openly about how you feel and to understand what might be causing your difficulties.

It focuses on emotional and relationship problems by exploring earlier childhood experiences, because these early experiences form our sense of who we are and affect the way in which we relate to others.

You will work collaboratively with the therapist so that you are both clear about the expectations and goals of the therapy. It is expected that you will notice improvements through symptom relief, new ways of understanding yourself and how you relate to others, and how others relate to you, and you will develop a greater capacity to understand others.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a talking therapy for people who are feeling low in mood and have symptoms of depression. It is time-limited and structured; it usually takes place over 16 weekly sessions, and the sessions last 50 minutes. The therapist will be concerned with how the problems that you are having affect your relationships with family and friends, and/or relationships in school/college/work, and how these difficulties can add to you feeling low in yourself.

IPT focuses mainly on relationship issues, because it has been found that better interpersonal relationships are linked with improvements in mood. IPT therefore aims to help people make changes in their relationships to help them feel better in themselves.

Who are the therapists at Brandon Centre?

The Centre has a team of professionally-trained female and male therapists. They are all experienced at working with young people who want help with personal problems. Some therapists are trained in particular ways of working, which they will explain to you. To read more about these therapies click here.