What is counselling?

Counselling is a form of talk therapy - it’s a safe and confidential space, where I will listen without judgement.

I hold space and time each week (or fortnightly) to bring whatever you wish. By exploring your thoughts, feelings and options you will gain better understanding of yourself, new perspectives, develop strategies to better cope or work towards goals, and be able to make informed decisions that are more in line with your authentic self!

Counsellors do not give advice, as this assumes that you need to be told what’s good for you! I believe that you have the answers within you and only you are positioned to know what’s best for you. Instead, I will support you in finding these. I am not the type of therapist who will just sit there and nod. I believe in scaffolding you to find your own answers, and that may at times involve me offering some insights, a different perspective, simple psychoeducation, and suggesting some tools that you may find helpful.

Imagine me as your passenger in a car - you are in the driving seat deciding where we go and at what pace, yet I am with you the whole way and have a roadmap I can draw upon whenever you need assistance.

Counselling can be helpful if you feel unable to share difficult feelings or strong emotions with loved ones, either through fear of upsetting them or their attempts, through the best intentions, to ‘fix’ things for you. Sometimes you need the space to be heard and find your own solutions, however long that takes. I will meet you where you are at, not trying to change you or your situation, and offer the distance and perspective you may be needing.

Messages from your past or society may have left you feeling like your worth is tied to putting other people first, pleasing others, being the ‘good girl’, your productivity, achievements or being ‘perfect’. When we inevitably fall short of these often unrealistic expectations, it can leave us feeling like we’ve failed or are not good enough.

Most clients come to counselling with an issue that is currently troubling them or making life difficult, sometimes this is clearly defined and others it is more of a sense of something not being quite right. As an integrative counsellor I am trained in a number of different schools of therapy, including psychodynamic which means that should you wish I can help you to explore your past, which may be impacting your present, such as patterns of behaviour or beliefs about self and others, that may have helped you to survive at the time but are holding you back now.

Growth is not linear and there is no growth without discomfort - to get the most out of therapy you will have to face things and feelings that you may have for whatever reason had to suppress or ignore. I will ensure that you do this in a way that is safe and as comfortable as possible. Being trauma-informed means that I understand how trauma affects the mind and body, and how to work safely with this. Most clients are relieved to hear that you do not need to tell me what happened to you to be able to work through it.

What to expect…

It can be daunting to reach out to a therapist, particularly if this is for the first time or if you’ve had a bad experience in the past, and therapy is a big time and financial commitment. Click here for a handy ‘What to expect when starting therapy’ guide.

60 minute counselling sessions are £60.

To get the most out of therapy it is best to do these weekly, but I also offer a limited number of fortnightly slots for clients needing to spread the cost.

Your slot will be held for you until you end therapy. Session fees are paid one session (1 week) in advance. If you need to cancel a session please provide 24 hours notice in order for this to be refundable, cancellations with less than 24 hours notice will incur the full fee.

I work both short and long term with clients - from 6 sessions to many years. I recommend that we begin with a minimum of 6 sessions, so that you have enough time to explore what has brought you to therapy and whether it feels a right fit for you.

You are always in charge of sessions and are free to end therapy whenever you wish. I recommend, particularly if we work long term, to let me know if you’re considering ending so that we have some time to work towards this.

Following on from our initial consultation, should you wish to book a first session I will forward you a copy of the therapy contract which will outline everything you need to know. There will also be an short assessment to fill out - this is just so I can assess risk as well as track progress during our time together.

I am a fully qualified counsellor and registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and abide by their Ethical Framework which can be found here.)

Finding a therapist…

I offer a FREE 20 minute online consultation to give you a sense of how I work and what you would like to get out of therapy. If you decide I’m not the right fit for you that’s fine. The therapeutic relationship between counsellor and client has been found to be one of the biggest influences on therapy outcomes, so it’s important to get this right. I would recommend when looking for a therapist that they are fully qualified, registered and insured. The best places to search that ensure all their therapists meet these requirements are as follows:

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) - https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists

UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) - https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/find-a-therapist/?Distance=10

Counselling Directory - https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/

Psychology Today - https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/counselling