Harley Therapy’s latest referral figures show that year-on-year, demand for short-term and structured therapies, such as a cognitive behavioural therapy, is rising at a faster rate than demand for other types of therapies.
Harley Therapy operates two London Counselling Clinics and has a database of therapists practicing in a range of theoretical approaches. The counsellor’s therapeutic styles include psychodynamic therapy

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that has gained a lot of press since the Vietnam War. Despite the press, however, many people do not realize what this condition is and how many lives it can and does impact.

Posttraumatic stress disorder is one of several anxiety disorders
. This particular condition is widely associated with military personnel who have seen live-action combat. It is, however, an equal opportunity offender and can sideline the lives of anyone who has undergone extreme trauma.

Even today, people’s conceptualizations of depression vary widely, both within and among cultures. “Because of the lack of scientific certainty,” one commentator has observed, “the debate over depression turns on questions of language. What we call it—’disease,’ ‘disorder,’ ’state of mind’—affects how we view, diagnose, and treat it.” There are cultural differences in the extent to which serious depression is considered an illness requiring personal professional treatment, or is an indicator of something else, such as the need to address social or moral problems, the result of biological imbalances, or a reflection of individual differences in the understanding of distress that may reinforce feelings of powerlessness, and emotional struggle.

The three most common treatments for depression are psychotherapy, medication, and electroconvulsive therapy. Psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for people under 18, while electroconvulsive therapy is only used as a last resort. Care is usually given on an outpatient basis, while treatment in an inpatient unit is considered if there is a significant risk to self or others.

A diagnostic assessment may be conducted by a general practitioner or by a psychiatrist or psychologist, who will record the person’s current circumstances, biographical history and current symptoms, and a family medical history to see if other family members have suffered from a mood disorder, and discuss the person’s alcohol and drug use. The assessment also includes a mental state examination, which is an assessment of the person’s current mood and thought content, in particular the presence of themes of hopelessness or pessimism, self-harm or suicide, and an absence of positive thoughts or plans. Specialist mental health services are rare in rural areas, and thus diagnosis and management is largely left to primary care clinicians. This issue is even more marked in developing countries. Rating scales are not used to diagnose depression, but they provide an indication of the severity of symptoms for a time period, so a person who scores above a given cut-off point can be more thoroughly evaluated for a depressive disorder diagnosis. Several rating scales are used for this purpose. Screening programs have been advocated to improve detection of depression, but there is evidence that they do not improve detection rates, treatment, or outcome.