ABSTRACT
Across the widening spectrum of mental health interventions, assessment for psychotherapy is being given greater emphasis. The past twenty-five years have seen the spawning of a great many new therapies. Some of these have evolved to a degree of maturation. In Britain the ‘standing conference’, after much labour, became the UKCP, established in 1994 to register and define them. In the National Health Service, where psychoanalytically based psychotherapies used to play a minor role, the twentieth century will close with a range of therapists offering a wide diversity of practices. Brief focused therapy, cognitive and cognitive-behavioural therapies, family therapy, behaviour therapy, all deserve a mention. A number of others come under the heading Creative Therapies, and the importance in terms of numbers of practitioners and clients of ‘Counselling’ outweighs them all. In addition, those therapies once known as ‘alternative’ have slipped into the mainstream and even some National Health Service staff have training in these non-psychological therapies, such as aromatherapy or massage, that are derivatives of ancient ways of easing stress and providing comfort.
