Psychologists are trained to assess and treat a wide range of emotional and psychological problems. After receiving their undergraduate university degree, psychologists complete an average of 7 years of further education and training. Working with a skilled psychologist can significantly reduce troubling symptoms (such as anxiety, fear, or depression) and enable you to cope with your problems more effectively and to function better in your day-to-day life.

Psychologists apply their knowledge of human behaviour, mental processes, emotions, and personality characteristics to help people make healthy and positive changes in their lives. Working collaboratively with you, a psychologist can help you recognize and change negative thinking styles, distressing emotions, and self-defeating behaviour patterns.

Psychologists are trained to teach you more constructive ways to deal with situations that now seem beyond your control.

There is a large amount of research evidence showing the effectiveness of psychological interventions for a wide range of problems. With respect to depression, cognitive-behavioural therapy has been found to successfully treat approximately two thirds of individuals with clinical depression. There is also evidence that cognitive-behavioural therapy reduces the risk of having a future period of depression. Similar results are found for the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety problems.