What is counselling / psychotherapy?

Counselling / psychotherapy is a professional helping relationship which gives you a chance to openly and honestly look at what is happening in your life so you can find ways of living more effectively and enjoyably. It gives you an opportunity to talk confidentially about your experiences and feelings with someone who will listen and try to understand from your point-of-view.
My role is to provide a safe and confidential relationship in which you can look at your life and your feelings to seek possible changes. This is not about giving you opinions or advice, about telling you what you want to hear or about suggesting solutions for you. I will give you space to consider all the things that are having an effect on you in your situation and will support you to work out your own way forward.
However, counselling/psychotherapy is not a magical cure and sometimes you may have to work to accept things that cannot be changed or to make sense of difficult things that have happened to you. This work requires a commitment from you, a willingness to look at yourself and the courage to take some risks in being open with another person. You will need to take responsibility for finding your own way forward but you will be given the support of a trained professional who will help you to do this.
If you feel that you need to get things off your chest but don’t want any change, or if you don’t want to look at your life in any depth, then counselling/psychotherapy is probably not for you just now. You might instead want to get support through organisations such as the Samaritans or Breathing Space.