Integrative Therapy in London | Integrative Counselling UK

What is Integrative Therapy?

Integrative therapy is like psychotherapy, but with the addition of different elements from some other specific therapies. For an integrative therapist, there is no single approach for the treatment of a client. Each client is different from another, and so their treatment must be tailored to their situations and needs. Each person should have a different treatment plan according to the scenario and nature of the case.

Integrative therapy holds the concept that there are many ways to understand human psychology, and one approach cannot hold all the answers. Since each theory is developed considering a different perspective on human psychology, these theories can be integrated to have a unique treatment plan for each client.

It focusses on the infusion of a person’s needs and personality- integrating the behavioural, emotional, cognitive, and psychological systems inside an individual along with catering to their spiritual and social needs. Integrative therapists don’t only care about what works, but their focus is on how and why a certain solution works. So, they don’t just hand over a client to any therapy, but they give the client the most suitable therapy after complete research.

How does Integrative Therapy work?

As it is explained above, different approaches that are deemed important for the client are studied and integrated to make a unique therapeutic experience for the client according to the needs. The central idea of this therapy is that there are many ways through which the understanding of the human mind and psychology can be achieved.

Integration of Approaches

Different perspectives can be integrated according to the need of the moment. Some of the most commonly used perspectives are:

• Humanistic therapies

• Cognitive and behavioural therapies

• Psychodynamic and psychoanalytical therapy

Now, as we see each approach offers a unique insight and explanation to human psychology. Also, each perspective has its remedies and therapies to induce a favourable change in the basic areas of human functioning such as emotions, behaviour, and cognition. A therapist can do selective integration to reinforce a certain change.

For instance, if a therapist is working with a client having behavioural issues. They will start their treatment by first focusing on changing the behaviour and reducing the elements causing it. First, it might include doing some cognitive behavioural therapy to help the client feel empowered and controlled. The client learns to control their functioning as much as they can to reduce unwanted behaviour.

Then, the therapist will move towards the next stage where improvement will be encouraged and insight will be developed into the client’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviour. This will be done through psychoanalytic therapy that includes recalling childhood memories and past, dream analysis, interpretation of the experiences, to know where the problem started. So, in this case, the integrative therapist used two approached for one client for better results.

What to Expect from Integrative Therapy?

Integrative therapy aims for wellness and healing for an individual where all the levels of human functioning are addressed and maximised to high potential. The client also needs to be self-committed in exploring and knowing the identifying factors for the issue they are facing.

Integrative therapy helps the client is facing a difficult moment openly with courage and complete insight before having expectations, opinions, and attitudes beforehand. This enables the clients to face their fears and limitation that are the barrier towards their psychological freedom. It also lets them realise what is triggering their unusual and disturbing behaviour patterns.

With this awareness, integrative therapy aims to create a healthy relationship between mind and body. This empowers the clients to set new goals and new behaviour patterns that are beyond their limitations and let them be satisfied in their lives. This and the other goals that are meant to be achieved after the therapy become the main focus of the client. All this is executed keeping client’s external constraints and needs in mind.

What is Integrative Therapy recommended for?

Integrative therapy techniques can be used in any type of therapeutic work with adults, adolescents, children, in individual settings or group settings. Mostly, integrative therapy is useful when you are having one of the following issues:

• Low self-esteem

• Bereavement

• Learning difficulties

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Trauma

• Phobias

• Addiction

Is Integrative Therapy right for me?

It becomes hard sometimes to know which therapy will suit the best for a certain situation. It is quite normal for people to have benefited from one therapy and then the other in later life. These are some of the indicators that integrative therapy is the right fit for you right now:

1. You are not sure about what approach is best

This is very common when you are new to this. With over 50 types of therapies available, clients get confused about what therapy they should use. It is very difficult to choose one without trying them all. Many clients feel that they do want to talk about their childhood, but also want to move forward with the present. In this case, integrative therapy is the best as it caters to all the needs and you get the most out of this therapy.

2. You want to give a try to different Therapies

Well, this is what integrative therapy is. These therapists consider individual preferences, personalities, differences, natures, needs, physical abilities, spiritual beliefs, expectations, and motivation levels of the clients. After considering these, they use their professional judgement to decide what therapies should be selected for the client. They won’t bombard you with the therapies, but after a few sessions, you will know what affected you the most.

3. You have time to invest in yourself

Since integrative therapy is about exploring in-depth issues and resolving them from every perspective, it requires a good substantial time of the client. If you are ready to invest that much time in yourself, integrated therapy is the right fit for you. It helps you to know yourself from different perspectives in a better way.

To conclude, it can be said that integrative therapy is for the people who are suffering from acute to mild mental disorders and have a motivation to become better and more focused on a healthy lifestyle.