HOME    COACHING    COUNSELLING & RELATIONSHIPS    CONSULTANCY    CONTACT

COUNSELLING & RELATIONSHIPS

Counselling is a process that almost everybody will benefit from, at some time or other in their lives. If you are under stress, faced with a difficult problem that you cannot solve, or going through a tough period of depression, it is sensible to try to find a good counsellor who will be skilled in listening and helping you find the inner resources you will need to deal with life at such a difficult time.

I am trained as a psychodynamic counsellor. This means that I work with my client in looking at the whole personality and seeing how past patterns may affect present feelings and relationships.

I am also experienced and successful in working with couples. A major cause of distress in our community is the problems we encounter in relationships with partners, spouses and others. Since 1992 I have enjoyed working in this way, helping people back to the harmony they once felt with those they loved, painstakingly rebuilding trust and intimacy. Occasionally it is, sadly, the case that people decide to separate, and this can become a little less painful if it is done with the help of a counsellor who understands how to keep the boundaries and to allow some respect to be restored.

As I have been working in this way for sixteen years, I have added many other aspects to my way of working. For example I am trained in Myers Briggs, in which we look at personality preferences and study how these preferences can be used to understand our relationships,what pleases us and what irritates us. I have done some training in Group Therapy. I am an experienced Zen student and can help clients find a way of deepening their self-awareness and their inner peace through meditation.

Sometimes counselling is a short-term process to deal with a particular issue. Sometimes people find they want to go into a deeper investigation of how they can help themselves move forward, by getting to know what it is that really makes them feel as they do, or why they react as they do.

I am a Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP) and abide by their Ethical Framework. In case anything goes wrong, this provides a means of seeking redress.

I am accustomed to starting with one introductory session (at my standard fee, currently £40) to assess whether we are able to work together: whether you feel comfortable working with me and whether you judge that I am the right person to help you. If we agree, we then have an initial six sessions. Sometimes this is all that is required. Sometimes a client decides to continue for another six sessions, or sometimes to make it open-ended. It is acceptable to have goals and objectives, and equally acceptable to work in a less structured way.

The relationship which will grow with your counsellor, based on trust, confidentiality and empathy, will be a major factor in helping you move forward.