How I Work.. . My core training is grounded in a Person Centred therapeutic approach, developed from the work of eminent psychologist Dr. Carl Rogers (1902-1987). Originally described as non-directive, this therapy moved away from the idea that the therapist was the expert and towards a philosophy that trusted the innate tendancy of human beings to recognise and embrace and finally trust their own unique potential to enable to them forward towards personal fulfilment.
I am also able to combine this approach with C.B.T. (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) methods helping clients overcome negative thought patterns, benefiting from developing alternative practical approaches to tackle issues that may be blocking positive life motivation. In addition I am qualified in Cognitive Hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), this means it is possible to be able to work with the unconscious to help guide towards positive emotional, behavioural and practical outcomes. I utilise various techniques to help unblock negative thought processes which may limit reaching potential and fulfilment in life.
Individual Counselling. By actively listening to client’s experience and whatever difficulties are present, I endeavour to step into their world throughout sessions to help guide and clarify thoughts and feelings, to light the way and enable self awareness to develop. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way.
In the counselling sessions the client can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family.
Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand.
Acceptance and respect for the client are essentials for a counsellor and, as the relationship develops, so too does the trust between counsellor and client, enabling the client to look at many aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have considered or been able to face before.
The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the behaviour or situations which are proving troublesome and to find an area where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start. The counsellor may help the client to look at the options open to them and to work together in choosing pathways forward that can benefit them in terms of future wellbeing and personal growth.
Throughout therapy, reviews on how best to work towards the goals and wishes of clients are regularly discussed. Therapy is a collaborative process, working together to achieve desired outcomes. My role is to facilitate whilst connecting with clients on a genuine empathic level.
Counselling is about change.
Counselling provides a regular time and space for people to talk about their troubles and explore difficult feelings, in an environment that is dependable, free from intrusion and confidential.
It is confidential, though there are parameters and limitations to this confidentiality which are clarified in the intial session. Counselling is a voluntary process.
The goal of therapy is that the client develops a much clearer sense of themselves through increased self awareness. This helps them become more grounded and able to make more positive life choices, to become happier and more at peace with who they are and how they are. To create a stronger sense of themselves and how they relate to others.
A counsellor will respect your viewpoint, while helping to deal with specific problems, cope with crises, improve relationships, or develop better ways of living.
Sessions normally take place once a week. Making this regular commitment gives clients a better chance of working through difficulties to a solution.
Counselling enables clients to speak freely about concerns and issues confidentially. I work professionally and ethically according to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) guidelines. I am also a member of the National Hypnotherapy Council (NCH) and Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
Let us look back not in anger nor forward in fear but around in awareness – James Thurber
