mine told me last monday I lack shame, safe to say it didnt go down very well

Personally, I won't spend a penny for any psych sessions.  It's easier to work on your self-esteem and accept your worth no matter how different a path you have chosen.

One of my clients is a psychotherapist. He is adamant that long term sex workers are able to do the work because they are good at 'splitting', due to the fact they were abused as children. He says he has met quite a few. Just goes to show that even very experienced counsellors can have fixed views when really they should remain open-minded.

Ana30 you should charge her 

The frightening thing is almost anyone can set up as a psychotherapist - there are no minimum qualifications, the same goes for counsellors. Anyone who's never seen one before I'd say do a lot of research, ask questions - and that's BEFORE you see them. Check out the qualifications they claim to have.

All in all I'd recommend seeing a psychologist, not a psychotherapist or counsellor, as they do actually have to do a significant amount of training, medical and otherwise.

These things I've only found out by trial and error. After all you are putting your MH in someone's hands. Tread carefully and pick wisely.

Psychologists are more about diagnosing mental conditions though aren't they? And psychotherapists/counsellors meant to help you to take control of your issues etc....?

Best to go on the BACP website as they are all qualified on there.

A fellow dog walker I chat to is a counsellor though on that site and he tells me stories about his clients. That's not good is it? Also, the psychotherapist I see (client) is highly qualified but I have found him to say some things to me that show up his ignorance a bit (e.g one thing he says is that sex addiction is a fallacy) so...yes...finding a good counsellor is tricky.

I did a basic counselling course and I found that to actually do some counsellor training was a great way to increase one's self awareness which is one aim of going to a counsellor...

Psychiatrists can diagnose and then manage the treatment of MH conditions and can prescribe medication, usually treating people with more severe MH conditions.

 Psychologists  focus on treating emotional/mental suffering with behavioural intervention, will have done 3 years clinical training as well as having a degree in psychology.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors may or may not have done training courses. This is more about talking therapy. Many will have no medical background or specialist MH training.

Obviously there are good and bad in all categories but I have tried counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists and found the last group to be the most likely to have a good understanding of MH and what makes a person tick, so they certainly get my vote. The clinical background is a massive bonus.

Depends what you are looking for I guess. And how great your needs are.

Can we keep it sex work related as per the thread title, please? It's wandering off, and I'm pretty sure there are other places covering this sort of stuff .

Sorry got carried away there explaining the differences! Still useful however.

It is sex work related. It's advice for sex workers seeking therapy...!

That's actually true it may appear to be general advice but actually what I said applies to SWs just as it applies to anyone seeking therapy. Definitely applicable to SW seeking counselling etc!