Counselling
Counselling offers you the opportunity to talk about your problems and feelings in a safe, confidential, non-judgemental space. It can help you to understand, overcome, or manage issues that are causing pain or making you feel uncomfortable. The kinds of things people come to counselling for include:
- Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional)
- Anxiety and anxiety disorders
- Anger management
- Bereavement, grief and loss
- Depression
- Feeling ‘stuck’
- Health problems
- Infertility
- Life changes and transitions (for example children leaving home, retirement)
- Low self-confidence
- Low self-esteem
- Perinatal mental health (during pregnancy or following the birth of a child)
- Relationship difficulties (partner, family, friends, colleagues etc.)
- Stress
- Work related issues
This list isn’t exhaustive so if something else is going on for you it may be that counselling could help.
I’m currently offering telephone and video counselling. Counselling sessions last for 50 minutes (a therapeutic hour) and are generally at the same time each week.
As an ‘integrative’ counsellor I can work with a range of approaches such as:
- Person centred counselling
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- Creative therapies
- Mindfulness
- Brief Solution Focused Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy
- Transactional Analysis
You might have heard of or experienced some of these. Or this may be the first time you are considering counselling. Either way we will agree a way of working that suits you and your preferences. For example, some people prefer to follow a plan and work in a structured way whereas others may benefit from more flexibility or creative ways of working.
I offer both time limited and open-ended counselling. ‘Time limited’ means that we agree a set number of sessions at the start. This is important if, for example, your employer is funding a specific number of sessions. ‘Open-ended’ means that we agree to end sessions when it feels right for you to do so. Either way we regularly review how counselling is going.
Making a decision to start counselling can feel a bit daunting and it’s important to choose a counsellor you feel comfortable with so I offer a free initial chat either by telephone or video call. This gives you a chance to ask questions and get a feel for what it’s like working with me.