Why a psychologist?

Psychologists are trained to assess and treat a wide range of emotional and psychological problems. After receiving their undergraduate university degree psychologists complete an average of 7 years of further education and training. Working with a skilled psychologist can significantly reduce troubling symptoms (such as depression, anxiety, fear) and enable you to cope with your problems more effectively and to function better in your day-to-day life. Psychologists apply their knowledge of human behavior, mental processes, emotions, and personality characteristics to help people make healthy and positive changes in their lives. Working collaboratively with you, a psychologist can help you recognize and change negative thinking styles, distressing emotions, and self-defeating behavior patterns. Psychologists are trained to teach you more constructive ways to deal with situations that now seem beyond your control.

There is a large amount of research evidence showing the effectiveness of psychological interventions for a wide range of problems. With respect to depression, cognitive-behavioral therapy has been found to successfully treat approximately two thirds of individuals with clinical depression. There is also evidence that cognitive-behavioral therapy reduces the risk of having a future period of depression.