Choosing a therapist
There are hundreds of different counselling and psychotherapy models – including cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), person-centred, holistic and integrative counselling, humanistic and psychodynamic therapy, hypnotherapy and so on. This can be extremely confusing, particularly for vulnerable people seeking help.
Most counsellors and psychotherapists receive accreditation from the organisation which trained them, which in turn may have its register accredited by an independent body to assure the public that it operates safe training and therapy practices. However, this is no guarantee of the therapists’ actual effectiveness.
By contrast, human givens practitioners have also been rigorously assessed for their effectiveness in delivering therapy that enables people to move forward quickly with their lives – in short, therapy that is attuned with the ‘givens’ of human nature. The HGI also actively encourages its members to contribute to ongoing outcome-informed research, which keeps track of how successfully they are working, based on their results.
Human givens practitioners are always empathetic but do more than just listen to you, aiming to give you understandings and techniques that will help you handle and move on from whatever difficulties you are facing in your life. They do not encourage you to go over and over traumatic or painful events. Instead they offer practical help to deal with mental and emotional distress in the here and now.
They are trained by Human Givens College whose practical, down-to-earth brief psychotherapy UK-based training and online courses provides an essential knowledge base, alongside offering groundbreaking insights into the cycle of depression and other conditions, and teaching students the most effective therapeutic techniques for resolving emotional distress – drawn and combined, as appropriate for each individual, from a wide range of tried-and-tested approaches, approved by the National Institute for Health and Cared Excellence (NICE).
This ensures that all qualified HG practitioners have both a sound body of psychological knowledge and the skills necessary to help people quickly with a wide variety of emotional and behavioural difficulties.
HG practitioners listed on the official HGI register, (comma added) which is accredited in the UK by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), and are fully accredited by the Human Givens Institute – see Registered Members. This means that the HGI monitors their professional conduct and continuing personal development; that the practitioners have agreed to abide by HGI’s ethics policy and complaints procedures; and that they have full public liability insurance.
