Counselling

What is Counselling?

It is hard to put what counselling can offer into words that explain the whole experience accurately. Just as each person is unique, so what they can gain from counselling will be unique.

When counselling is relatively brief, it is more likely to focus on a particular area of difficulty such as a recent loss, separation or other significant change. In these cases, the focus will be on that event, using the counselling relationship as a place to feel supported and enabled to move on and develop new ways of coping.

When counselling goes on for a longer time, there is an opportunity to develop a deep and trusting relationship with the counsellor, within which more long-standing issues can be explored. Together, client and counsellor can work on what may seem hard to shift thoughts, feelings or behaviours.

The most important aspect of the counselling task is that the client is enabled to find their own way through the maze of possibilities, since he or she will inherently know what is right for him or herself. This will also depend on the counsellor's ability to provide a safe and supportive space by maintaining confidentiality and offering reliability, continuity and acceptance of the whole person.

What can counselling help with?

Counselling can be useful for a huge range of issues because it is not a specific "treatment" or "prescription" but is more a way for any of us to explore and find ways through what may be bothering us.

The areas that I tend to work most in are: