What is the purpose of Counselling?
Difference between Counselling & Psychotherapy
The purpose of counselling is to provide you with a safe, confidential place where you can talk about the losses, stresses, confusions, conflicts and other pain in your life. As a therapist, my role is to listen, support and help you with theoretical insights and suggestions to either change what is possible or to accept and live more contentedly with that which is not. I do not judge or tell you what to do but instead, work collaboratively and creatively to empower you to find solutions to your situation.
Counselling and Psychotherapy are often considered to be interchangeable therapies that overlap in a number of ways. The key difference between them lies in the time required to see benefits; Counselling is usually a brief treatment that centres around behaviour patterns in the here-and-now, whereas Psychotherapy is longer-term work, focussing on deeper, often historical, emotional difficulties.
What to expect from my 1st session
Some people can feel a little uncertain before their first session and are unsure of what to expect. I believe a first counselling session is an opportunity to get to know each other and to decide if we would like to work together. As a therapist I also like to reach an understanding of what you would like to gain from the counselling process.
How many sessions will I need?
Therapy is a process which takes a varying amount of time to complete depending upon the issues concerned, the type of therapeutic style employed and the overall commitment of the client; some issues can be worked through in a few weeks, while others require months, even years to resolve.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
What is Person-Centred Therapy?
CBT focusses on the idea that a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interlinked; so if we think about a situation negatively, we will most likely feel badly about it and then may react in an unhelpful way too. By identifying and challenging these negative thoughts and behaviours in therapy, a client can develop a clearer, more objective perspective, respond more effectively and therefore improve the way they feel.
Person-Centred Therapy focusses on the building of a warm, genuine, and non-judgemental relationship between the therapist and client to help facilitate personality growth and change. It is based on the idea that an individual is inherently capable of reaching his or her own potential by developing awareness of their thoughts and behaviours and working on the relationship with themselves and others.
What is Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT)?
What is Attachment Therapy?
CFT focusses on the idea that compassion is one of the most important declarations of strength and courage known to humanity and that to be compassionate lies in the willingness to identify and alleviate suffering, either in ourselves or in others. CFT is particularly helpful for clients that struggle with shame and self-criticism, often resulting from early, negative childhood experiences. It teaches clients to cultivate skills in compassion both for themselves and for others, which in turn can help regulate mood and lead to feelings of safety and self-acceptance.
An attachment-based approach to therapy looks at the connection between a child’s early attachment experiences with their primary caregivers (usually parents) and their ability to develop and form healthy relationships as an adult. For clients who experienced insecure attachments, this kind of therapy can help mend or recover from fractured family relationships and help to build safe and trusting future relationships.