All of us have times in our lives when we feel that we’re in a fog and can’t seem to find our way out. This can be especially difficult if you’re usually the one that others rely on. If it’s the first time you’ve felt like this, it can be really confusing – and frightening. You can feel like you don’t know what’s happening to you, or why.
For some, it can be an all too familiar pattern. It happens again and again and you start to wonder if it’s all your fault. Maybe you think it is just the way you are and there is nothing you can do.
Or there may have been a specific event that has caused you to feel unable to cope.
Who says that we have to be able to cope all of the time?
Sometimes we just need the time and space to be heard. Sometimes we need help in clarifying our own thoughts. Sometimes the past can simply overtake any chance for a future. Sometimes, even if you’ve already spoken to a doctor and received treatment, medication alone doesn’t solve the problem.
This is where counselling or psychotherapy can help.
Of course, you could talk to partners and friends, but at times like this, most of us don’t. Seeing a counsellor gives you the chance to share the problem with someone who can provide a caring and safe environment in which to explore your options.
Counselling can also assist at other times. For example when you want to make a change; stretch yourself; resolve a problem; challenge your thinking; find peace in your life.
Seeking help from a counsellor is not a sign of weakness or an admission of failure. It’s actually the opposite. It’s a sign that you have the strength and good sense to get help when you most need it.
What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
Counselling and psychotherapy are talking-based therapies which work through the relationship between you and the therapist to help you develop a greater understanding within and about yourself and perhaps to make some changes in your life. I believe that respectfully and carefully listening to you, and have you feel really heard and understood, is a crucial part of this process.
Professional counselling usually refers to shorter-term treatment for a particular issue or concern and may be with an individual, couple or family. It may focus on relationships, workplace matters, stress, grief or loss, responding to illness, career goals or directions, parenting issues, crisis or conflict, as well as many other matters. In addition to the important skill of listening to you, counselling can help you clarify issues, explore options, develop strategies, and increase self-awareness.
Psychotherapy usually refers to longer-term treatment for more complex issues that may be having a negative effect on a person’s life, with the aim of bringing about change at a fundamental level. Psychotherapy involves working intensively with you to help you gain a deeper understanding and to overcome core issues or blocks which might be persistently disrupting your ability to flourish in your world. There are many different approaches to the work of psychotherapy but in all approaches the therapeutic relationship between you and your psychotherapist is of crucial importance.
Because I work on the basis of each individual’s needs and issues, the work we do together may be either shorter or longer term.
Free no obligation first session.
Counselling or psychotherapy is different for every individual and effective therapy depends on a strong and genuine connection between you and the therapist. I therefore provide the first session without charge and use it both as an information sharing exercise as well as assessing the connection between us and whether or not I believe I am able to help. It also gives you the opportunity to make a judgement on whether I am the right therapist for you.
If I believe that I do not have the necessary skills to assist you, I will advise you of this and try to refer you to someone whom I believe does.
If we both agree to proceed, how that happens depends entirely on your needs, expectations, desires or issues.
How it works.
One of my strongest beliefs is that every person is unique. I therefore work closely with my clients to select the most appropriate and self-empowering approach for each one. I also believe that the only way to deal with whatever pain one is experiencing, is to go through it - not over it, around it or push it down but through it; at the same time often the difficult or unwelcome things that happen to us in life can also provide the greatest learning for us.
It can take from one to four meetings to adequately explore the reason you have sought counselling and for us to develop a plan together on how best to proceed. This may be sufficient for some people to achieve their goals; for others the process can be much, or a little, longer. The important thing is that it is your choice completely.