Sally, Clinical Supervisor – Youth Talk
We spoke with Sally, one of Youth Talk’s Clinical Supervisor’s about what psychodynamic counselling is and shedding light on common questions surrounding this therapeutic approach. Youth Talk offers young people psychodynamic counselling which helps you to understand how your current feelings and behaviours are shaped by your past experiences.
What is Psychodynamic Counselling?
Psychodynamic counselling is a talking therapy that aims to understand how a person’s past can impact on their present feelings and experiences. When a person experiences their Counsellor as a safe and trusted person, this enables the person coming to counselling to begin to share their feelings and experiences about all aspects of their life as much as they want to.
Psychodynamic counsellors will work with things that are both known and unknown (conscious and unconscious feelings) in a way that feels safe and manageable. Over time, understanding can be found that helps to manage previously difficult feelings in a more helpful way. The very act of talking and being listened to on a regular basis, is an important part of the therapy as you begin to understand that there is someone alongside you in your difficulties that wants and can help.
In group counselling the same principles apply, but in a way that the person coming for group counselling experiences being listened too and being a listener, can feel understood by others and can offer understanding back. Group counselling is an important part of what Youth Talk offers and can help the people coming to feel less alone in their difficulties. At Youth Talk, we offer both talking counselling groups and art therapy groups, which offer ways of self-expression with and without words.
Sally Sayers
Clinical Supervisor
The Role of the Psychodynamic Counsellor
A Psychodynamic Counsellor is someone who will help you build a safe and trusted therapeutic relationship with. They work with you in a thoughtful and respectful way, at a pace that feels right for you, without telling you what to do. Instead a Counsellor will be alongside you and understand your world the way you see and experience it .
The role of a Counsellor is to help you recognise why you feel the way you do. With deepened insight and self-awareness, emotional struggles can shift into something less painful or be resolved completely. Counsellor’s will work with your own hopes and goals of the therapy such as improving relationships and feeling able to make better choices.
‘Psychodynamic counselling is about understanding. I think it’s quite hard to believe that something so simple will work: listening, understanding and sharing – so that two minds are looking at the same picture. To say something out loud and have the other person truly listen and receive what’s being said is a powerful thing. Sharing and talking really can and does change how we feel about the thoughts in our head.‘
Margaret Smallbone, Former Clinical Supervisor
Differences from Other Forms of Therapy
Unlike some forms of counselling such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for example, which generally provide shorter term work, offering advice or providing direct coping solutions, psychodynamic counselling is usually a longer process as it allows time to go deeper into understanding your life and what is important to you. In this way the root of the issue can be more fully understood and positive outcomes can be more effective.
Common Questions and Misconceptions
Why is it important that young people attend their appointments at the same time on the same day, weekly?
Commitment to turning up every week for your counselling session is so important and we do understand this may be hard to do sometimes for lots of reasons, however, by turning up each week you are giving yourself the best chance to change what is causing your emotional pain and difficulties.
Sessions are the same time on the same day, as this becomes your time and can be easier to remember, rather than the time changing each week. This regularity also helps something that might initially feel unfamiliar to become known. The session time of 50 minutes is really because this is a helpful amount of time to be able to think and explore together each week.
Why confidentiality?
“I’m a parent and I want to understand why my child won’t talk to me about what is going on. Why won’t you let me in? Why does it have to be confidential?”
Counsellors and Therapists are bound by ethical frameworks, such as protecting client confidentiality and privacy. This helps the persons coming for counselling to build trust that what they share will be held confidentially and enables the young person to bring more difficult things to counselling.
We often hear a young person say they worry that by telling their family and friends everything might feel too much for them or worry them. Speaking to a professional who they do not have a personal connection with can help the young person to talk about their issues in a less censored way. There are exceptions to this, such as in safeguarding situations when a counsellor may need to share some information to keep a person safe from harm. We would always try to speak with the person in counselling first before hand where possible.
We also ask each young person under the age of 18, if they would like us to notify their parents/ carers that they are attending counselling at Youth Talk, but this is ultimately the young person’s decision.
Free Services
“Would Youth Talk ever consider charging young people? Why from a clinical point of view is it important that the service is free at the point of access?”
Youth Talk prioritises every young person (from the age of 13-25s who live, work or go to school in the St Albans area) with the ability to seek and receive free counselling and this is not dependent on their ability to pay. Counselling sessions are completely funded by the generous donations we receive from the community and the commitment and hard work of our wonderful fundraising team.
Client Reliance
“Is there a risk that a young person becomes reliant on their counsellor?”
Counsellors are experienced and trained to work with endings and to help a young person who comes for counselling to feel be able to leave their counsellor when the work does come to an end. The ending of the work is an important part of the counselling process.
In essence, psychodynamic counselling both individually and in group counselling offers a meaningful way for self-exploration and greater emotional understanding, guided by the presence of a supportive and experienced Counsellor. Through understanding, trust, and collaboration, young people can find a space that can be transformative for their emotional wellbeing and mental health.
20 Years of Thanks to Youth Talk
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