Types of Counselling I Offer
Integrative Counselling
During your support sessions I combine ideas from more than one theoretical approach to counselling, drawing on elements of each as appropriate for the client/issues.
During your support sessions I combine ideas from more than one theoretical approach to counselling, drawing on elements of each as appropriate for the client/issues.
Counselling is a type of therapy where you can talk about your feelings in a confidential and safe place. It can be used to help many different mental health conditions including anxiety, depression and addictions.
There are a few steps we can take to start working together, at a pace that is suitable to you.
This is a great opportunity to have a chat and find out if we can work together. We can use the time to ask any question you may have. This can be a free 30 minute face to face chat, a phone call or via email or messaging if you prefer.
At this point you can decide whether you wish to make an assessment appointment.
This initial appointment will be an assessment and will take longer than a normal counselling appointment. This involves questions about you and your life and what you want from therapy. Before you arrive it may help you to have a think about your expectations and worries so you are more comfortable during this initial consultation. It is during this session that you will get a feel for my personality and that first impression may well help you decide if we can work together.
During our second session I will talk you through how I work and confidentiality and its limits etc. I will encourage you to tell me more about yourself and how you feel, as you tell your story I may interrupt you from time to time to get a better understanding of how events have happened, how you feel/felt about them. I do this so that I can truly try to understand you, I do not want to assume I have you worked out.
There are a number of questions that clients often ask before a counselling session.
I offer “integrative counselling” which means I offer a mix of a few types of counselling. First and foremost I use person centred which is a here and now type of counselling which is very client lead, where we will explore your thoughts and feelings and in doing so this can lead to self-awareness. I am not the type of counsellor who will ever pigeon hole you or jump to any conclusions, I will truly listen to you and learn from your experiences and not my own. I think the term I want to use is, I will walk in your shoes.
I also use psychodynamic counselling which usually looks back at childhood experiences to see how they may have shaped the type of person you have become. This type of counselling can be very emotionally difficult to deal with and if we should choose to go ahead with this type of counselling you may feel worse before you feel better as you relive past experiences you have tried to forget or put behind you.
I can also offer CBT, which is the type of counselling where you will get homework and within that challenge your own thought patterns.
Whichever type of counselling we decide together is best for you, or even a mix of all three or two of them, it will be your decision not mine.
Once you have decided you like the look of me and my website you can send me an email, text or simply call me. I will then call you if you are happy to do so and we can have an informal chat. If you are not comfortable talking on the phone, please be assured that we can email or message instead. If you prefer to meet face to face, we can meet for a half-hour free of charge chat. If you wish to go ahead at this point we can make an appointment.
Yes, counselling sessions are confidential. The exception would be if you were to pose a danger to yourself or others, in which case the relevant parties would be notified.
Those with anxiety, depression, suffering stress, battling addictions, low self-esteem and confidence, and understanding yourself.
The length of your treatment will very much depend on your unique circumstances and needs, with six sessions often recommended and a review after that.
Keep in mind that once you start sessions, new issues and angles can arise you were not aware existed that you then want to explore. It is of course possible to also see improvement faster than you expected.
I am registered and accredited with BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy).
I am qualifed with CPCAB (Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body) – Level 2, 3 and 4.
I am a very down to earth, easy going person, I would describe myself as easy to approach and very accepting of people.
I have lots of experience with anxiety, depression and addictions. I also have experience helping those with Autism and Asperger’s, ADD and ADHD, also from a carer’s perspective.
I’m currently an Accredited Registrant with the National Counselling Society (NCS), and volunteer as a counsellor one day a week at the charity Change Grow Live.
From time to time I will post interesting thoughts and articles surrounding counselling and wellbeing. I hope you will find them interesting, informative but most of all helpful.