About Counselling

Do I need a counsellor?

People often think that they should be able to sort things out themselves and shouldn't need to ask for help from anybody, particularly a stranger. The truth is, we all need help at some time in our lives and sometimes reaching out to someone we don't know can be the way out of what seems an insurmountable problem. A counsellor can provide that safe place where you can talk about what may have felt unsayable.

Also you may think that what is troubling you is too insignificant to bring up but what matters is that it is troubling you at this moment and to talk about it may help you to see more clearly a way forward or it may be an opportunity to explore possible answers to what appear at present to be unanswerable questions.


Can counselling help?

What counselling does is provide you with the undivided attention of someone who is interested only in you and what is troubling you at this moment. Counsellors are trained to listen and to ask the right questions at the right time. They do not give advice. They help you to arrive at your own decisions by helping you to explore your ideas, your views, your experiences, so that you can come to informed choices.

Counselling is a cooperative process where you and the counsellor work together to bring you more fulfillment in your life. My job is to help you to bring meaning to a personal issue and perhaps to help you to reach a new understanding of yourself and the issue(s) you bring to counselling.


Is counselling confidential?

Yes, anything we talk about is confidential. I am a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists and as such I am bound by its ethical framework for good practice and subject to its professional conduct procedures.

What sort of issues do couples bring?

As many issues as their are couples - but often couples come for counselling because they are wanting to be reconciled, to change how they are currently relating. Some come to seek a safe way to part, to leave the relationship. Many come because they have reached a crisis because of betrayal, affairs, violence or some other issue.

A good number of couples come with sexual issues.

What about sexual issues and couples?

For many people a sexual relationship is the most fulfilling, exciting and intimate encounter they have with another person. If, however, the sexual relationship is not going so well, then the feelings of pleasure of giving and receiving sexual enjoyment very often becomes a source of embarrassment, ridicule and rejection. This can cause personal distress or marital breakdown. Relationships do end as a result, but many do not. Couples work very hard to repair the damage and emerge stronger and closer than they were before.