What is counselling?
Counselling is a supported process in which you can explore personal, relationship or psychological challenges. Counselling can focus on current stressors and difficulties in life, such as relationships, grief and loss, career changes, conflicts and communication.
Counselling can be short-term or it can take place over a long time-span. It can take place face-to-face, online or over the telephone.
These decisions are up to you, the client, based on your needs and life situation.
The first phase of counselling involves supporting you to build your awareness and understanding of the challenges and difficulties you have encountered and to fully experience your feelings about the situation.
We would talk the issue through in a structured way. This is what makes counselling different from talking to a friend or family member. You are responsible for the details of what is discussed. I provide a process through which the issue can be explored, clarified and ultimately transformed. You will come to view yourself, your relationships and the current situation with more awareness and clarity. The counselling process can also be experiential involving methods such as drawing or movement-based processes aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of feelings, thoughts and behaviours.
The next step in the change process involves action. In this phase, you develop more concrete plans or strategies about how to enact change. The gap between sessions during this phase will often be longer as you try out new ways of being in the world outside the counselling room.
Explore at deeper levels, the patterns and themes of your life - who you are in the world and in your relationships.
Personal development and growth.
Current issues or early life-experiences and your family-of-origin.
What you talk about in a session remains confidential. There are some exceptions to this which we would discuss in our first session.
Any notes from the session are kept securely and available for you to see on request.