There are lots of things to consider when choosing the right therapist for you:
- Do they practise the type of therapy you are looking for?
- Are you able to get to their office or do they offer options such as online or phone therapy?
- Do you prefer a male or female therapist?
- Is the age of the therapist important to you?
- Do you feel comfortable with the therapist, do you trust them, can you be honest with them?
But then if they meet all of our criteria how do we know if they are suitably qualified?
One way is to check that they are registered with a professional body and have professional insurance. But how do you know which professional body to look for? This is where the Professional Standards Authority can help they run the Accredited Registers for Health and Social Care Practitioners.
So who are the Professional Standards Authority and how can an Accredited Register help you choose a therapist? The Professional Standards Authority explain:
When you are using health and care services you want to be sure that the people caring for you are competent and trustworthy. If you choose someone from an Accredited Register you can be confident that they have been checked and are appropriately trained.
If you and your GP or other health professional decide that a particular service might help you, such as acupuncture, or counselling, or foot health they can feel confident suggesting you see someone on an Accredited Register, knowing that the Accredited Register will have checked their competence and will hold them to account.
If you or your child’s school feel that a child would benefit from some therapy to help them resolve some problems, you can feel confident choosing a play therapist, or a child psychotherapist from an Accredited Register knowing they have received special training to work with children and are properly supervised.
If you, or your health professional are worried about anyone on an Accredited Register, you can tell the Accredited Register or us and we will look into it.
For more information click the link belong to watch a short video created by the Professional Standards Authority that explains the Accredited Registers in more detail.
Professional Standards Approved Registers
At Therapy Services we are members of both the National Counselling Society and the National Hypnotherapy Society both of which hold Accredited Registers approved by the Professional Standard Authority so you can be sure that by choosing Therapy Services you are choosing a qualified professional. To see how we can help you why not give us a call on 01509 769137 or fill in the free initial consultation form here.
