Nowadays patients are referred to as clients, and everyone gets to sit on a chair.  The therapist and client sit opposite each other, and we talk for 50 minutes.  That’s it.  Mostly you (the client) do the talking, and I will comment occasionally to facilitate the journey of exploration of your thoughts, feelings, intuitions and dreams.

Of course there’s a bit more to it than this, and therapy training is rightly long (mine took 7 years from start to finish) and very thorough.  In addition to training, psychotherapists have usually had to spend many hours with their own therapists before they are let loose on the public.  This is a good thing.  You need to know that the person opposite you is not just trained in the theory, but also has personal experience of what they are talking about.

Psychotherapists also pay for regular supervision of their work.  This will be with another specially trained therapist who is probably older and certainly more experienced, who can review their work with their clients and make suggestions and help with difficulties.

All of the above is, of course, held within a strict boundary of confidentiality.