About Counselling
Counselling is a talking therapy and your sessions will be your time and space to be authentically present. You may come to counselling with specific goals or just need to sit with someone in safety to open up.
You will be supported with warmth and without judgement to explore and gain a clearer insight into what is going on for you, what does not feel right and what your present needs are.
I will provide you with a holding environment and facilitate you to do the work. I will also challenge you as we work together to try and understand and make sense of you, your life, your journey and where you find yourself in the present.
We will explore your relationship with yourself by identifying early life experiences, whether perhaps there existed some neglect, bullying, comparisons and competition, discrimination, feelings of not belonging or fitting in, suppression of emotions or trauma. Any of these and more may have created negative beliefs about yourself such as
"I am bad"
"I am not deserving"
"I am not worthy of respect"
"I am a failure"
These negative beliefs tend to be very self-critical and are ingrained in the brain. Unfortunately they also discount all the strenghts you have drawing all the attention on the negative assumptions. They may result in extremely painful feelings of shame, rejection, anxiety and anger.
Might you have developed rules and assumptions to protect yourself from these feelings and as a means to survive? Do these sound familiar "I must please people", "I should never make a mistake", "If I get too close to other people they will reject me"
We will look at how and why these rules continue to exist in the present even when they no longer apply. We will identify the painful feelings and the unhelpful behaviours you use to somehow cope. You may realise the costs to you and how these rules maintain and restrict your behaviour such as withdrawing from friends due to anxiety, constantly striving for perfection, being preoccupied with your body image and engaging in dieting and punishing exercise.
I will support you in identifying and adjusting your rules and balancing your beliefs. You will learn healthier coping skills and gain confidence. You will work on self-compassion and healing, regain your agency and live a more fulfilling life.
Personalised Approach
I regard and value each person as an individual with their own unique experiences and as your counsellor I am able to use an approach that is best suited to you as an individual and for your unique experiences. We will consider your goals for therapy and create a personalised approach for your therapy.
I am trained in the following approaches:
- Person-Centred Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT-E)
- Psychodynamic Therapy
and I draw on these theoretical approaches depending on your needs.
