COUNSELLING
Counselling is what these days is commonly known as a ‘talking therapy’. It gives clients the space, time and opportunity to explore issues, which the client believes are impacting on them, or their life, in an unhelpful way. It is aimed and enabling the client to reach their own decision and to make choices.
A supportive counsellor or therapist can help you through a crisis or difficult patch in your life.
Counselling is non-judgmental and confidential. Sometimes we have issues, which we may not want to share with family or friends. This is necessarily because we don’t trust them, but sometimes even a loved ones advice, is simply not that helpful. They may not necessarily know what is going to work for you. Within counselling you explore your feelings and gain insight and understanding.
Bottled-up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief, shame or embarrassment can become very difficult to manage. What helps is having the opportunity to express them and talk about them is a safe place.
Talking about the issues can help reduce the pain and may dissolve them.
As a psychodynamic counsellor my aim is to provide conditions where you can get to the root cause of you problem and help you to deal with this. As a therapist I am trained to listen and to help you find your own answers, without judging you.
Research has shown that the relationship with the counsellor is important. It is an essential part of the process, that the relationship is such, that a client can begin to build trust in the counsellor and the therapy. Trust is needed as the counsellor gently encourages the client to look as aspects of your life and relationships.
Sometimes difficult aspects have to be explored but a counsellor will support you while you are doing it. Things that have happened in our past often govern the way we react to people or situations. So past situations/feelings may be explored to find clarity.
Often it is not long before a client begins to make links and starts realising that there are options and solutions available. In counselling the right of the client to make his or her own decisions is respected.