Which Therapy Is Best for Me?
One of the most common questions people ask when seeking support is:
“Which therapy is best?”
It’s a reasonable question. With so many approaches available—CBT, ACT, EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), hypnotherapy, mindfulness-based therapies, somatic approaches and many others—it can be difficult to know where to start.
However, there is often a more useful question:
“What is maintaining the problem I’m experiencing?”
The answer to that question is usually far more important than choosing a particular therapy model.
The Problem Is Not Always the Problem
Many people seek support because they are experiencing:
- Anxiety
- Overthinking
- Emotional overwhelm
- Burnout
- Difficulty switching off
- Relationship difficulties
- Performance pressure
- Low confidence
- Persistent stress
While these experiences are real and distressing, they are often symptoms rather than root causes.
For example, two people may both experience anxiety for completely different reasons.
One person’s anxiety may be driven by perfectionism and fear of failure.
Another person’s anxiety may be driven by unresolved experiences that have left their nervous system constantly scanning for danger.
A third person’s anxiety may stem from internal conflict between competing needs, values, or expectations.
The symptoms look similar, but the underlying drivers are very different.
Why Therapy Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
Therapy approaches are simply different tools.
Just as a mechanic would not use the same tool for every problem, effective therapy often involves selecting the most appropriate approach for the specific issue being addressed.
Different approaches can be helpful for different purposes:
Cognitive Approaches
Approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, beliefs, and behavioural habits.
These approaches are often useful when thoughts and interpretations are playing a significant role in maintaining distress.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS helps people understand the different parts of themselves that may contribute to anxiety, self-criticism, emotional reactivity, perfectionism, or avoidance.
Rather than trying to eliminate these parts, the focus is on understanding their protective roles and creating greater internal harmony.
Nervous System Regulation Approaches
Some difficulties are maintained less by thoughts and more by chronic activation of the nervous system.
In these situations, learning how to regulate physiological stress responses can be an important part of recovery.
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy can help people access and work with patterns that operate largely outside conscious awareness.
It may be useful for addressing habits, emotional responses, self-limiting beliefs, and automatic reactions that feel difficult to change through logic alone.
Structured Trauma Resolution
Where past experiences continue to influence present-day functioning, structured trauma resolution approaches may help reduce the ongoing impact of those experiences.
This work is not necessarily about repeatedly discussing the past. It is often about helping the mind and body recognise that the original threat is no longer present.
The Better Question
Rather than asking:
“Which therapy is best?”
Consider asking:
“What is driving the anxiety, stress, overwhelm, or emotional reactions I’m experiencing?”
Once the maintaining factors become clear, choosing an appropriate approach often becomes much easier.
My Approach
My work focuses on helping people understand the factors that are maintaining anxiety, emotional overwhelm, mental overload, performance difficulties, and other persistent challenges.
Rather than applying a single method to every problem, I draw from a range of evidence-informed approaches including Internal Family Systems (IFS), clinical hypnotherapy, nervous system regulation strategies, cognitive approaches, and where appropriate, structured trauma resolution processes.
The goal is not to fit you into a particular therapy model.
The goal is to understand what is keeping you stuck and help you develop the flexibility, resilience, and internal stability needed to move forward.
Taking the First Step
If you’ve tried various strategies and still find yourself struggling with anxiety, overthinking, emotional reactivity, or difficulty switching off, the issue may not be a lack of effort.
Sometimes the missing piece is understanding what is maintaining the pattern.
Once that becomes clear, meaningful change often becomes much more achievable.