Counselling

Counselling or psychotherapy is a contractual arrangement by which a practitioner regularly meets a client, in privacy and confidence, to explore distress the client may be experiencing. This may be a difficulty; their dissatisfaction with life; or loss of a sense of direction or purpose.
We create a climate that is Client-focussed and promotes your emotional, physical and psychological well-being. We believe that in offering a safe and comfortable environment and therapeutic intervention our Clients can learn to cope with personal problems such as:
Anxiety  
Addiction 
Bereavement 
Bullying 
Compulsions 
Communication Difficulties
Relationship Issues 
Stress  
Anger Management    
Depression  
Panic attacks  
Phobias

Counselling FAQ’s
How do I get started with Counselling/Psychotherapy?  
Your first session(s) will involve an evaluation of your needs and goals. Once this evaluation has been completed your therapist will be able to offer a treatment plan to follow, if you decide to continue with therapy.  An individual therapy session is defined as a 50-60 minute appointment, usually scheduled one session per week. A couple’s therapy session is defined as 90 minute appointment, usually scheduled one per week. A Group Session is defined as 2 hours, usually scheduled weekly or fortnightly. You may, on occasion, be asked to complete ‘homework’ tasks between sessions.  

Does therapy work?  
Yes. Countless studies have shown that psychotherapeutic treatment works. The effects have been measured in terms of improved social functioning, relief from unwanted symptoms and increased emotional well-being. 

Confidentiality  
All the counselling we provide is confidential and counsellors work to British Psychological Society (BPS) standards and practice including ethical guidelines covering confidentiality. Exceptions to Confidentiality as required by law will be outlined by your counsellor at your first appointment. 
Psychodynamic Counselling
Psychodynamic counselling uses the therapeutic relationship to gain insight into unconscious relationship patterns that evolved since childhood. Memories and other evidence of early relationships are used to make sense of current concerns. The process of change occurs as clients become more aware of the power of the unconscious, including defence mechanisms, instincts and rules for life, to influence behaviour, and hence more able to control their actions and responses. The therapeutic relationship in contemporary psychodynamic counselling is based on acceptance, empathy and understanding, with an emphasis on developing a good working alliance that fosters trust. The counsellor takes account of the real world of the client, including the impact of trauma, cultural difference, sexual orientation, disability and social context.
Person-centred Counselling
Person-centred therapeutic counselling is a non-judgmental, non-directive approach developed by Carl Rogers. 
The basic principle of the approach is to work with the client as an individual, avoiding analysis and categorisation in order to perceive the world in which the client moves. 
Three fundamental benefits of the person-centred counsellor are empathy, genuine and unconditional positive regard. It is through offering these to the client that a trusting relationship and a sense of safe space can be established. 
The person–centred therapist facilitates the exploration and expression of the feelings around client issues. This offers an opportunity for the client to increase self-awareness and gain insights or make sense of their world. 
Transactional Analysis
The techniques of Transactional Analysis can be used in a variety of settings: individual therapy, couples therapy and group therapy.  
Whatever is "wrong" with you can be fixed because, fundamentally, you are both OK as a person, and have the power to change. You may not feel that about yourself, but it is a fundamental humanistic precept about Transactional Analysis that we are all OK and capable of change, and you will be helped to realise that truth.  
Your therapy proceeds by making contracts between you and your therapist. You are not a patient being diagnosed and treated. You are not a subject being experimented on.  
You are an equal partner in the therapeutic relationship, who must agree with what will be tackled together, and how. This may seem daunting, as your therapist has been through a long training, and you haven't. But Transactional Analysis is simple to understand, and you are the world's authority about you. 

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviours, not external things, like people, situations, and events.  The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is considered among the most rapid in terms of results obtained.  What enables CBT to be briefer is its highly instructive nature and the fact that it makes use of homework assignments.  CBT is time-limited in that we help clients understand at the very beginning of the therapy process that there will be a point when the formal therapy will end.  The ending of the formal therapy is a decision made by the therapist and client.  Therefore, CBT is not an open-ended, never-ending process. 
Cognitive-behavioural therapists have a specific agenda for each session. Specific techniques/concepts are taught during each session. CBT focuses on the client's goals.  We do not tell our clients what their goals "should" be, or what they "should" tolerate.  We are directive in the sense that we show our clients how to think and behave in ways to obtain what they want. Therefore, CBT therapists do not tell their clients what to do -- rather, they teach their clients how to do