About My Counselling
Counselling aims to help you explore, confront and eventually deal with and overcome issues that are causing emotional pain or making you feel uncomfortable or unhappy.
It can provide a safe and regular space for you to talk and explore difficult feelings. The counsellor is there to support you and respect your views. They won’t usually give advice, but will help you find your own insights into and understanding of your problems.
Counselling can help you:
- cope with a bereavement or breakdown of a relationship
- support you through redundancy or work-related stress and anxiety
- explore sexuality or identity issues
- deal with blocks preventing you achieving your ambitions and desires
- deal with feelings of depression or sadness, helping to develop a more positive outlook on life
- deal with anxious feelings and helping you worry less about things
- understand yourself and your problems better
- feel more confident
- develop a better understanding of other people’s points of view
- develop a better understanding of yourself and your needs
Counselling can often involve talking about difficult or painful feelings and, as you begin to face them, you may feel worse in some ways at the start. However, with the help and support of your therapist, you should gradually start to feel better.
In most cases, it takes a number of sessions before the counselling starts to make a difference, and a regular commitment is required to make the best use of the therapy.
What to expect from counselling
During your counselling sessions, you’ll be encouraged to express your feelings and emotions. By discussing your concerns with you, the counsellor can help you gain a better understanding of your feelings and thought processes, as well as identifying ways of finding your own solutions to problems.
It can be a great relief to share your worries and fears with someone who acknowledges your feelings and is able to help you reach a positive solution.
Counselling can take place:
- face to face
- individually or in a group
- over the phone
- by email
- Skype / Video link
You may be offered counselling as a single session, as a short course of sessions over a few weeks or months, or as a longer course that lasts for several months or longer.
Your Counsellor and Working Together
- Trust: A good counsellor will focus on you and listen without judging or criticising you. They may help you find out about how you could deal with your problems, but they shouldn’t tell you what to do.
- Working together: Therapy should be viewed as a partnership. For counselling to be effective, you need to build a trusting and safe relationship with your counsellor. If you feel that you and your counsellor aren’t getting on, or that you’re not getting the most out of your sessions, you should discuss this with them, or you can look for another counsellor.
Feeling comfortable with your therapist or counsellor is important as it affects how well the treatment works. Research shows that how well you get on with your therapist may be as important as the type of therapy you have.
Getting the most out of talking therapy
Therapy is a two-way process and the more effort you put into it, the better the results are likely to be. Here are a few more useful insights for anyone beginning talking treatment are:
- Expect to feel a bit awkward and nervous at first. This is quite normal and as time goes on you will feel less intimidated and more relaxed.
- Talking therapies require you to be completely honest with yourself. Be prepared to face up to your fears. This can mean remembering and talking about distressing memories, intimate topics and private thoughts and feelings.
- There may be tasks, or homework, to do between sessions, such as trying out new ways of behaving or keeping a diary. Don’t skip these exercises. You’ll get better and quicker results if you complete them
Specific Areas I can Help You
- Sexual Health issues and concerns
- Sexuality – coming out?
- Homophobia & discrimination
- Porn addiction/unhelpful fetishes
- Sensitive or issues you may find embarrassing to talk about
- LGBTI community (Lesbian, Gay, Bi sexual, Transgender, Intersex)
- Work-related issues
- Stress
- Self-Concept (Self Esteem)
- General Counselling
What models of therapy do I offer?
- Person Centred Therapy
- Mindfulness – Clients are taught ways to change thoughts and expectations, with the use of relaxation techniques.