Individual counselling
If you’re uncertain about how your life is going, or you’d like to resolve some kind of personal difficulty, then counselling or coaching could certainly help.
The benefits include having someone to talk to who is professionally trained and therefore focused on listening to you. It can really help you feel better by talking things over in a confidential setting, to develop a more balanced perspective or explore alternative options to improve your situation.
I am interested in exploring your inner world (your history, your thoughts and feelings and expectations), alongside consideration of what occurs in the external world around you. Essentially, therapy is a relational process where we discuss and learn together about how you’d prefer to be. There are no fixed answers, so any solutions will be tailored exactly to suit you.
Please contact me for an informal chat on the phone about what’s on your mind or to make an appointment in person:
I am also a qualified supervisor, providing supervision to counsellors and coaches.
How counselling works:
Most people come to counselling when there’s a pressing problem, where they are feeling really low or stressed. At such times, the immediate need is to find a way of coping. Fortunately, counselling can really help with that, often quite quickly. Sensible people recognise when they’re hurting and when something needs to change.
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As our conversations evolve, if you invest in yourself through counselling, you can take the time to consider your unique identity and purpose in life.
At its best, counselling is both an inward and outward journey, during which you will explore what lies within and what possibility is in the world around you.
I hope to foster an environment where your values and beliefs are upheld, the things important to you are emphasised, in a holistic way where mind, body and spirit can be nurtured.
My style is to be involved in what you’re saying and to offer observations on what might be happening or how you might tackle the situation. But you can give me feedback on whether you want more or less of this approach.
The pace and agenda are yours. It’s my role to keep in step alongside you, unless you ask me to help you gain more traction and impetus.
Therapy conversations can be hard, tearful or uncomfortable. They can also be hugely supportive, empowering and profound. I believe in maximum support and appropriate challenge, for high-impact therapy. All because you probably don’t want to spend years inching your way towards feeling better.
Yet I believe that people have the qualities and motivation to develop healthier, more fulfilling ways to live.
Often what facilitates that change is the therapeutic relationship that develops in counselling.
I’ve seen this happen time after time with my clients, and this is how I believe counselling works.
Issues and specialisms:
Over the years, I have built up a wealth of experience on particular issues. So if you are dealing with any of these difficulties, feeling it’s important to see a counsellor who understands the nuances of what’s involved with your problem areas, please let me know.
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I am experienced in these areas and would be happy to talk with you about:
Relationship problems, including arguing, conflict, communication difficulties
Dealing with cheating, affairs, being involved with more than one person simultaneously
Family problems, including divorce and child custody
Depression, anxiety, panic attacks
Traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Bereavement
Sexual problems or sexual identity
Bullying or harassment
Employment strife
Addiction: alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, porn
Suffering the effects of violence or crime
Disordered eating: bulimia, anorexia, over-eating, binge-eating
Survivors of sexual abuse or rape,
Chronic illness: cancer, diabetes, ME / chronic fatigue
After listening carefully to you, I specialise in exploring different ways of thinking, enhanced communication skills and positive behaviours to help you live a more fulfilling life.
To read more about my therapy work and trauma service, there’s more information in the About Me section of this website.
My approach is humanistic integrative. This means I have trained in several psychological models, so I am able to select what may be most helpful for you. I may draw upon Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Transactional Analysis (TA) and Gestalt techniques. I have also taken a specialist training in psychosexual and relationship therapy.
Sometimes clients also ask for hypnotherapy – where you choose to go into a waking trance state, where I talk you through a guided visualisation in which you can find ways to access the more creative sub-conscious power of your mind.
I have also published a book chapter at the invitation of one of my former clients, who has written a book called A Small Boy Smiling about his recovery journey from childhood sexual abuse. Just click the book title here which takes you to his website. Happily, he has transcended the abuse and now lives a more fulfilling life helping others with similar experiences. You can download my chapter from his website for free, by clicking here.
Get in touch
If you are interested in talking to me about working together, then please do get in touch.