About Counselling - talking therapy

Counselling is a talking therapy which can help people with emotional and psychological distress and mental health issues.  It provides an opportunity for people to discuss personal difficulties and challenges with someone independent and non-judgmental who has the skill to help make sense of things.  When choosing a therapist it is important you feel the counsellor will sensitively understand you.  It is also important to feel you can trust them and that you warm to them as well.

The counsellor offers a quiet confidential space to explore all aspects of the person's difficulties, their roots and origins, with the aim of finding ways of moving forward. Counsellors respect the importance of confidentiality and building trust with clients, and are trained in empathic listening.  Reflective support can help an individual gain clarity and insight whilst they tackle life's difficulties.

Sometimes people feel confused and life begins to feel troubled.  Others may feel curious about themselves and the behaviours of others.  Counselling can often be beneficial in helping people to understand thoughts and feelings.

Therapy can be helpful to people who find it difficult to be themselves with others.  It can show them the way to having more authetic relationships and sustaining them.  It can be particularly useful in dealing with low self-esteem, anxiety and depression, and at times of significant life changes, for example:

• Redundancy
• Divorce/relationship breakdown
• Moving house
• Bereavement

Counselling can help with these losses as well as finding ways of moving forward.  It is a process that can take some time and, as we are all different, the outcome will not be the same for everyone.

Benefits include greater self awareness with increased self-esteem, increased ability to recognise destructive patterns and change them, reduced anxiety, healthier and more authentic relationships and a feeling of inner peace and strength.

Therapy, thus by definition, provides a safe, confidential and caring space for the individual to develop awareness of their patterns by actively working together to resolve the problems with which they are struggling.  It is through self-awareness that change can begin and influence our lives.