Counselling

As children we are born in relationship to others. How we deal with relationships now is often based on a series of unrevised assumptions and feelings about ourselves and others which have come from the past. These form our habitual ways of relating. You may come to counselling for a variety of reasons. It may be a result of life experiences which have gone wrong, or ways of relating which have become too firmly entrenched. You may have become depressed or anxious. Sometimes, as with bereavement, you may need to mourn with someone who is not afraid of letting you do so. Sometimes there is an awareness of events in the past, such as abuse, which need addressing to help you move on. Or, you may be having difficulties with your partner which you cannot resolve together.

In counselling, you will be offered a safe and confidential relationship where you can be helped to explore and change some of your patterns and ways of relating. Old ways of doing things, which used to work, may be ineffective now. Looking at yourself with a supportive, yet impartial counsellor may help you change the patterns, or accept what is facing you at present. Counselling is collaborative. Using a variety of techniques from simple listening to drawing, role play, or making a map of your life, I will work with you on the issues we have decided on together. I will work with you as a whole person, your thoughts and behaviour, as well as your feelings about yourself and your wishes for the future.

I hope to be warm, yet able to help you detach from your difficulties in order to help you take control of your own life, using the skills you already possess, as well as those we will work on together.