Frequently asked questions

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Practitioners

What's the difference between a Counsellor, Therapist, and a Coach?

Choosing who to speak to about your mental well-being can be confusing. So, what’s the difference between a counsellor, a therapist, and a coach?

It can help to simply frame that each discipline can help with your Past (Counselling & Therapy), your Present (Meditation & Mindfulness Coaching) and your Future (Life, Career & Executive Coaching).

‍Counsellor:
‍In counselling, you’re more likely to focus on the short-term ‘here and now’ and find ways to manage your current issues and feelings. Your counsellor will typically assess how you’re feeling in the present moment and how this is affecting your well-being on a day-to-day basis.

Counselling may be more commonly used to treat issues that aren’t necessarily diagnosed mental conditions. These might include things like bereavement and grief counselling, relationship counselling, building coping strategies, and support with other issues such as low self-esteem. These issues may be considered to be related to the general ‘ups and downs’ of life, although this isn’t to say that they are any less significant than formal mental health conditions.

‍Therapist:
‍During therapy, as well as having an awareness of the ‘here and now’, you’re also more likely to explore the ‘back story’ to your problems in order to get to the root cause of these. This will enable you to understand how your past experiences may have influenced the way you’re feeling, challenge the way you respond to these, and move forwards.

Therapy is generally a longer-term process to diagnose and resolve problematic beliefs, behaviours, relationship issues, feelings and sometimes physical responses. e.g. depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is because therapy is evidence-based and formulation-driven. The idea behind therapy is to focus on past traumas and issues to change self-destructive habits, repair and improve relationships and work through painful feelings. In this sense, therapy focuses on the past and on introspection and analysis, with the hope of resolving past issues and creating a happier, more stable future.

Therapists may have specialised in using a specific therapeutic technique (e.g. CBT) and therefore, may label themselves specifically as a cognitive behavioural therapist, for example.

It’s important to note that the term ‘counselling’ is often used as a general description for talking therapies, but counselling itself is a specific talking therapy.

‍Coaching:
‍Coaching is action orientated, whereas counselling is coping-orientated. Coaches want to help you recognise what you think vs. counsellors also want to help you realise how you feel. In coaching, a client works with a coach to clarify goals and identify obstacles and problematic behaviours in order to create action plans to achieve desired results.

The main way that a life coach vs. counsellor/therapist works is that the life coach takes the client’s current starting point as an acceptable neutral ground and is more action-based from that point onward. A life coach enables the person receiving treatment to take control of their life and take action to steer it toward their goals. Coaches who focus on clients’ personal lives are often known as life coaches. But there are also many other specialists offering coaching for women returners, unpaid carers, couples, health challenges, mental health problems and life transitions and bereavement, to name but a few.

‍Executive/Leadership Coaching:
‍Executive or leadership coaches specifically have experience of working in corporate environments. They specialise in creating strategies to help empower the person with mental tools and human skills to become a better manager, deal with complex situations in a work environment, improve performance at work, and trouble-shooting or resolve high levels of stress (often known as executive/business coaching).

Which MYNDUP practitioner should I choose?

This is completely up to you! We suggest you choose the practitioner whose bio resonates with you the most. You can view all of our MYNDUP practitioner bio’s here. If you are still unsure who to choose, or want to discuss anything about any of our practitioners, please reach out to us at hello@myndup.com. We’d be delighted to help!

What are the different types of coaches?

A life coach is someone who aids the improvement of day-to-day lives by encouraging you to find more meaning, develop better relationships, find a career you love and build confidence in every area of your life. They do this by guiding you into developing your goals, identifying obstacles standing in your way and defining strategies and tools that will enable you to achieve your goals and overcome hurdles.

‍Here is our essential guide to the different types of coaching

Which type of therapy is right for me?

It’s one thing to admit that we’re overwhelmed, distressed or just needing guidance, and direction, in an area of our lives. But it’s another to have to decide which therapy approach or counsellor is best suited to our concerns, when faced with so many.

Seeking the right therapist, or type of therapy, can, therefore, seem like an overwhelming and daunting task in itself and you’ll often find there are a number of different approaches available, depending on your individual situation.

‍See our essential guide to therapy here.

Which type of counsellor is right for me?

The terms ‘counselling’ and ‘therapy’ are often thrown around and regularly interchanged. However, whilst there are some similarities, the main difference between the two is the various approaches each takes towards problem solving.

Counselling can often be differentiated based on client relationships, and how they interact with their clients.

Counselling sessions are led by the individual which gives you the opportunity to openly discuss your concerns or problems with a trained professional in a confidential and safe environment. Throughout your counselling session, you’ll be encouraged to explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours to allow you the chance to better understand yourself and how these may have contributed to the obstacles you now face.

Through the exploration methods provided, counsellors will help guide you into finding your own solutions, making positive changes in your life and adopting coping mechanisms to help deal with your problems.

‍Here is our essential guide to the different types of counselling.

I'd like to change practitioner, am I able to do this?

Of course you can! Please try as many of our practitioners as you need until you find the right one for you! It’s very important that you connect with your practitioner in order to get the best from your sessions. If you need any help choosing, please contact us at hello@myndup.com.

Can I see more than one practitioner?

Absolutely! If your employer pays for your sessions then you can see whoever you want, whenever you want - as long as you keep to your allowance! Lots of users see one practitioner one week and a different practitioner the next.

How are practitioners vetted?

Our practitioners have to pass a rigorous 4 stage vetting process.

‍Step 1:
We have an initial video conversation to determine suitability, industry expertise, attitude, delivery style, and culture fit.

‍Step 2:
Then all certificates, qualifications, and professional accredited bodies are checked. We only accept gold standard accreditations.

‍Step 3:
We then check previous client testimonials and references.

‍Step 4:
The final stage is a comprehensive face-to-face interview, conducted by our head practitioners.

‍Bonus! If the practitioner is successful, we have 'secret shoppers', that have sessions and give us detailed feedback on their experience with their practitioner. We then relay this back to the practitioner to help them always improve.

First session

What will my first session be like?

We understand that seeing a coach or therapist/counsellor can be daunting if you have never seen one before. Your first session with your practitioner is just to get to know one another and to have a chat about what it is you might like them to help you with.

What do I do after my first session?

Relax. Take in what you have learned from meeting your practitioner and if you would like to book in with them again, you can do so by viewing their calendar here.

What is a 30 minute session for?

You might like to book a 30 minute session to check out your MYNDUP practitioner and to see if you like them! That’s absolutely fine with us and we encourage you to do that. 30 minute sessions can also be used as a check in if you do not require a full 60 minute session.

Do I have to check with my company if I can use it?

If you:

1. Have a code for your company
2. And you are an employee of that company

Then you are able to use the code at checkout, and book a session with MYNDUP. No need to check with your company 🙂

How do I book a session?

Click this link and follow our walkthrough to book a session.

Employees

Where can I find my company code?

Please check with your HR team or ask us at hello@myndup.com.

The company code is used at the final booking checkout page, where it says ‘apply code’ on the left-hand side.

How many sessions am I allowed?

There may be a limit on the number of sessions you’re allowed each month. This depends on which option your company has selected.

Please ask us at hello@myndup.com. Or you can ask your HR team to confirm this for you.

HR teams

Are you an EAP?

Nope! We're not an EAP. We provide many of the services you would expect to find with an EAP, but with a vastly superior employee experience. This results in 6x higher usage than an EAP on average.

Do you work alongside an EAP, or replace it?

We do work alongside an EAP, or we can replace it. Many of our clients still have an EAP available to their employees, but many are choosing to replace their EAP with MYNDUP.

Cancellation

What if I need to cancel or change my session?

We know how hectic and unpredictable life can get and sometimes that means needing to miss your session. If that happens, you can make changes or cancellations free of charge up to 48 hours before your booking.

Please click on the link as highlighted within your confirmation email, or contact us at hello@myndup.com. As we still need to pay our busy practitioners for their time, we cannot offer any refunds if a cancellation takes place within 48 hours of your session.

Other

I'm having internet issues at the time of my session, what do I do?

No problem at all, we've been there! Just reach out to us via hello@myndup.com.

Do I need to install an app for MYNDUP?

MYNDUP bookings and video sessions work on ANY device, from PC, laptop, mobile and tablets without the need to log into the App store and install an app.

We want our service to be accessible to everybody, and avoid adding another app to our busy lives!

How is MYNDUP today?

Oh, we’re really good thanks!

A few annoying things here and there, but in the grand scheme of things, they are nothing major. And nothing that we can’t reframe and keep focused on our goals for today!

We hope that you are well too? But if not, have no fear, you’ve come to the right place. We have the very best practitioners to help you get to a better place! ❤

Thanks so much for asking! 😊