When you’re looking for a therapist, it’s natural to start by thinking about the kind of therapy on offer. You might wonder whether a certain style will suit you, or whether it will help you feel the way you hope to feel in therapy: safe, heard, supported. These are important things to consider. But there’s something else that often gets overlooked—and that’s how different types of therapy think about what “progress” or “success” in therapy even is.

Most people come to therapy with a particular issue or challenge in mind. Something’s not feeling right, and you want support to change it. That’s entirely valid—and it makes sense that the focus might stay on the problem for a while. But sometimes, it’s helpful to pause and ask: What would change actually look like for me? What kind of outcome am I hoping for?

In some therapeutic approaches—especially those rooted in behavioural models—the goal might be to change how you think, act, or feel in response to a specific problem. This might involve learning techniques or strategies to manage your symptoms. For some people, that’s exactly what they need.

In person-centred therapy, the picture is a little different. Rather than focusing on fixing symptoms or solving problems directly, we look at how you relate to yourself—and how, in a supportive therapeutic relationship, you might begin to trust yourself more deeply.

According to person-centred theory, therapy can support you to move through a series of stages that reflect a growing connection to your own feelings, values, and ways of being in the world. At the beginning, you might feel stuck—perhaps caught in patterns of thinking that feel rigid, or cut off from your own needs and emotions. Over time, and with the right conditions, things can shift. You might start to feel more flexible in your thinking, more accepting of yourself, and more confident in listening to your own inner voice.

Rather than being given answers or tools, person-centred therapy equips you to become your own guide. And the “goal,” if we can call it that, isn’t to become someone different—it’s to come into fuller contact with who you already are.

So if you’re wondering what kind of therapy might be right for you, it could be helpful to ask not just what do I want help with?—but also, what kind of change do I believe in? Do I want direction and tools from someone else, or do I want space to hear myself more clearly?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But the more we understand the assumptions behind different approaches, the better placed we are to choose a path that truly fits.