About Counselling
Counselling is for everybody; you don’t need to have a certain level of distress for you to benefit from having a neutral partner to help you cope when parts of your life are challenging or upsetting. Counselling is flexible; weekly sessions show to be the most successful use of counselling, but you can also do it at any pace that works for you.
Types of Counselling
I offer short term, open ended, single session, and couples therapy.
Short term therapy is typically between 2 and 8 sessions, often the person coming for therapy has an idea of what they need (i.e. heal from a difficult experience, develop relational skills or healthy coping strategies) and how they’d like to use their time. We then work together to address this and meet the needs within this time frame.
In open ended therapy/ long term therapy you have freedom to explore, understand and respond to issues at your own pace, utilising various therapeutic approaches. Here we explore a range and depth of issues and gain a deeper insight into the self and the issues you are struggling with. We can explore how past experiences have affected you and not only manage them now, but heal them from their roots.
In single session therapy I work with you in one session to help with your most troubling concern. SST is a great option if you just have one problem you are really stuck on, or would be unable to attend therapy regularly. There is a pre-therapy questionnaire and follow up care.
In couples counselling I will see you both individually for one session and then see you together for all subsequent sessions.
Whatever the approach, we can work in the here and now and also look at your past to gain a deeper understanding of your thoughts, feelings and actions.
Common Q&As about your therapist
Q: Does my therapist care about me? A: Yes, absolutely. I genuinely care about all my clients.
Q: Does my therapist judge me? A: No, the therapy space is completely free of judgement.
Q: Will my therapist diagnose me? A: No, your therapist will help you understand and reduce/ manage your symptoms but will not label or diagnose you.
Q: Can I be friends with my therapist? A: Your relationship with your therapist should be warm, trusting, genuine, accepting, and empathetic. While you can be friendly, you can not be friends. The boundaries of the therapeutic relationship are fundamental to the process and to the health of the therapy.
What actually is counselling/ psychotherapy?
Counselling/ therapy is a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about your issues and concerns. Your therapist helps you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and others (BACP). In counselling and psychotherapy, your therapist cannot officially diagnose you, prescribe medication, and does not tell you what to do. They will support you to find solutions and can offer guidance, techniques and insights that can help you do this. Often therapy helps to reduce, control or alleviate troubling symptoms so you can feel better able to cope and to increase daily functioning and wellbeing. Counsellors provide the conditions needed so you can talk about what you have been struggling with and feel supported to reach your goals.
Is it right for me?
If you are struggling to regulate or manage your emotions, counselling may be able to help. All feelings are important, but some of them can become overwhelming or linger longer than needed, such as anger, hopelessness, sadness, irritability and frustration. A therapist can help you understand and regulate these emotions, so they can come and go as intended.
If you feel you need to lower your stress levels. If you are excessively worrying and sometimes feel like you are ready to burst but don’t have an outlet to express this, then counselling may be a useful tool for you.
If you have experienced any kind of trauma or abuse, coming to terms with this and finding joy in life again can feel like navigating your way through a maze! Talking to a trained therapist who can empathise, sit with you in the feeling, and help you find ways forwards can be extremely helpful.
If you are having relationship problems and feel stuck then counselling can be a helpful step towards getting your relationship back on track.
There are so many reasons for seeking therapy and benefitting from therapy- too many to list here. Fundamentally, therapy is a tool that can help you learn skills to address problems and deal with them effectively, it gives you a neutral person to talk to who will be with you as you navigate your way through the problems you are experiencing or facing. Therapy has shown to be just as effective or more so than medication, and often it is only needed short term.
Your part
Counselling works as it is a collaboration between counsellor and client. The foundation of good therapy is a strong therapeutic relationship and from that comes the ability to be open, and explore with your therapist. You must be ready and willing to engage and ‘do the work’ not just in therapy but in-between sessions, so as to get the most out of the process. You are not alone, and therapy will progress at your pace.