The most recommended and well-researched type of therapy overall for any issue is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
If you’ve tried CBT and feel it’s not for you, or you’re curious about other types here’s the most recommended type of therapy for your issue:
Anxiety
- Exposure Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Depression
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the gold standard for depression.
Eating Disorders
- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Family Therapy
Stress/Burnout/General Overwhelm
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Solutions-focused brief therapy
Trauma/PTSD
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)
Relationships
- Emotionally Focused Therapy
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy
Substance use / addictions
- Motivational Interviewing
Neurodiversity
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Coaching based approaches
- Psychoeducation
Read on to learn more about each of these therapy types.
Most therapists use a mix of these therapy types and most therapies are designed to suit a wide range of concerns. Because everyone is different, if a particular approach resonates with you, it’s worth exploring even if it’s not listed as the “standard” treatment for your concern. If you want to follow what the research suggests is most effective, the reality is: you don’t need to choose a type of therapy.
So how do I pick the right therapist or counsellor?
For decades, researchers in psychology have consistently found that what matters more than the type of therapy you choose, is the relationship you have with your therapist. In fact, it’s one of the strongest predictors of successful outcomes (Flückiger et al. 2018). Meanwhile, the differences in outcomes across types of therapy tends to be relatively small.
The psychology world calls this the: Therapeutic Alliance
What is the therapeutic alliance? It’s how safe, understood, and supported you feel with your therapist.
How do you know if your therapist or counsellor is “the one”?
What matters most is how you feel with them. Can you fully be yourself with your therapist? Do you feel like your therapist has your best interests in mind at all times?
Do you feel:
- Open
- Accepted for who you are
- Respected in your values
If you don’t feel this right away, it’s important to remember that trust and openness take time to build in any relationship, including with your therapist. If you don’t feel it right away that’s okay, it’s natural. Therapy is a vulnerable environment and it may take a few sessions to build that connection.
It might help to ask yourself: “Do I like who my counsellor is and what they believe in?”
Can you imagine:
- Building trust with them over time
- One day feeling able to tell them anything
- Expressing your true feelings honestly
I’m unsure about my therapist or counsellor
Every relationship has its ups and downs, it can take time to figure things out.
As a counsellor, I do my best to maintain that therapeutic alliance but there could be times where I unknowingly get it wrong. Everyone is different, and sometimes things I say may not land the way I intended. That’s why, from the get-go, I encourage my clients to let me know if something doesn’t feel right and I promise to not take it personally. If you didn’t like something I said, or you want to change the direction of our sessions, I want to know. Being open about this helps me support you better and leads to better outcomes.
If therapy isn’t going how you hoped, it’s okay to say that. Your therapist or counsellor wants to know, and these conversations are a normal part of the process.
But if the same issues keep coming up and nothing changes, it might be a sign to look for a better fit. Finding the right therapist isn’t always easy, you may need to try out a few before you find “the one.” Look at it this way, you wouldn’t stop eating out after one bad meal at a new restaurant, would you? It may take you a few tries before you find your favourite place.
What are the different types of therapy
As you read these descriptions of the types of therapy you may notice many overlapping ideas or themes. This is because many therapy types build on one another and have been adapted over time to focus on specific goals or beliefs. Also please note, there are many more types out there beyond this list.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Core Idea: Take control by changing how you think = Change how you feel and act
Our thoughts are patterns of habit. CBT is about identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviours to break the cycle. Check out this video explaining the common cognitive distortions you might unknowingly be falling into: 9 Cognitive Distortions that can Cause Anxiety and Depression
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?
Core Idea: Psychological suffering is often caused by trying to control or avoid internal experiences.
Feeling like you can’t keep up with the rat race? Use ACT to learn to notice the rollercoaster of feelings from daily life without fighting them or getting stuck in them. Make space for them, let them pass and maybe even develop a different outlook on life. Learn more with this video: Values vs Goals – By Dr. Russ Harris
Or check out this interesting metaphor on the theory behind it:
Passengers On A Bus – an Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) Metaphor
What is Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)?
Core Idea: You can accept your emotions and change them at the same time.
This is adapted from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for people who experience intense emotions. If techniques like this video appeal to you, you might want to give DBT a try: Struggling With Emotions? Try DBT Emotion Regulation Skills
What is Exposure Therapy?
Core Idea: Your comfort zone can grow by facing your fears.
You break fears into small, manageable steps and gradually work through them, starting with situations that feel easier and building up over time. This reduces avoidance and helps retrain your brain to respond with less fear in situations that once felt overwhelming.
What is Family Therapy?
Core Idea: Problems don’t just exist within one person, developing a functioning family system creates a better life for all.
Family therapy helps family members get on the same page, improve communication and connection, resolve conflict and identify unhelpful interaction patterns. For young people with eating disorders, it uses the family as part of the support system, rather than placing responsibility on one person to manage recovery alone.
Here’s an overview: What is Family Therapy?
What is Solutions-focused brief therapy?
Core Idea: Shift away from talking about the problem to figuring out solutions
Instead of talking about your problems in depth, your counsellor asks questions that help you identify your strengths, what’s already working, and what you want your future to look like. Together, you build small, practical steps toward change.
What is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)?
Core Idea: Trauma symptoms happen when memories get “stuck” in the nervous system without proper processing.
While recalling traumatic events, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or tones) to engage both brain hemispheres, similar to REM sleep, which helps process stuck traumatic memories
Here’s a video demonstrating it: EMDR Demonstration: What to Expect & How EMDR Therapy Looks Like. Therapist Client Role Play
What is Emotionally Focused Therapy?
Core Idea: Relationship problems are usually about unmet emotional needs and attachment fears.
Access the deeper emotions underlying your reactions in a safe place. Then learn to respond to your partner with more openness, emotional accessibility and connection.
It works to:
- Identify negative interaction cycles
- Explore deeper emotions underneath conflict
- Strengthen emotional bonding and safety
What is Gottman Method Couples Therapy?
Core Idea: Healthy relationships are built on specific habits, while unhealthy ones have predictable patterns of breakdown.
Learn about love and develop skills through small actionable changes to build a healthy relationship based on Gottman’s core tenets. One major tenet says that couples require five times more positive interactions than negative, as negative emotions hurt a relationship more than positive ones heal.
To learn more, watch this video on the Bidding Concept from Gottman’s theory: The Easiest Way to Improve Your Relationship | The Gottman Institute
What is Motivational Interviewing?
Core Idea: Change is most effective when it comes from your own motivation and choice.
You are the expert. The counsellor acts as a guide, helping you explore your motivation and commitment to change, clarify your goals, and strengthen your confidence in making those changes. Check out this video to learn more: Lifting the Burden in Motivational Interviewing
What is Coaching?
Core Idea: Achieve your goals with structured support and ongoing accountability.
Coaching is more action-oriented with less emphasis on mental wellbeing compared to counselling. It often uses techniques similar to solution-focused counselling to support productivity, confidence, and performance.
What is Psychoeducation?
Core Idea: Understanding what’s happening makes it easier to cope and make changes.
Psychoeducation involves your counsellor explaining the biological or evolutionary processes behind your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. While many counsellors may not list psychoeducation as a specific speciality, it is commonly used alongside other approaches to help clients better understand themselves.
For example, you may have heard of the fight, flight or freeze responses, but have you heard of the fawn response? Check out this video to learn more: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: What’s Yours?
Ready to book a session with a counsellor? Find the right counsellor for you here:
References
Flückiger, C., Del Re, A. C., Wampold, B. E., & Horvath, A. O. (2018). The alliance in adult psychotherapy: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy, 55(4), 316.