What is Counselling?

There are many different types of counselling (or models) and different people respond differently to these. Some (like Cognitive behavioural therapy) are more directive and work by giving the client tasks or goals to achieve.

What I offer is what some people call a "talking therapy". As I mentioned on my "about me" page, I practice Carl Rogers' (1902 – 1987) approach, I am a person-centred counsellor. Without going into too much technical speak, this basically means that I believe each person has the answer to their own difficulties within themselves. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself and so I will not offer any advice or set goals for you or diagnose you. I am not the expert, you are! Think of it as someone being there to support you as you discover who you are, what you want to do with your life and how to listen to and trust yourself. It's about how you are feeling right now. Counselling is referred to as a "relationship" because it's about two people working together to find the answers for one of them (the client). 

Dave Mearns and Mick Cooper describe it best in their book "Working at Reational Depth": 

"A state of profound contact and engagement between two people in which each person is fully real with the other and able to understand and value the other's (client's) experience at a high level". (Mearns and Cooper 2005) 

My role would be to try to understand your experience from your point of view and to positively value you as a person in all aspects of your humanity, while aiming to be open and genuine as another human being.

For a lot of people who find counselling useful, it's about having a space just for them, without feeling judged or threatened, away from the business of life. A chance to talk about the things that really matter, the things that are causing pain, feelings of loss, confusion, anger or fear. Perhaps for you, a chance to be heard and valued for who you are, to be taken seriously and to be able to hear yourself and what it is you really need in order to break free from whatever holds you captive. 

This in itself can sometimes be enough to help a person find the answers for themselves.

I am passionate about the person-centred model and believe in it's potential to help someone find their own answers, answers that are right for them. Although counselling isn't for everyone, I have seen it work and have watched people come out of some very dark, scary "places" in their lives.

As human beings I believe we all need to feel accepted and heard as well as valued and counselling is a unique relationship where all these things have the potential to happen.