My approach

At the heart of my approach to counselling is attentive, compassionate listening, without judgement and without any agenda for how you should be. My aim is to understand your feelings and what you’re experiencing, so that we can work together to find a way forward through your difficulties.

I will accept you exactly as you are, with all the difficulties and fears you don’t feel good about – as well as the strengths and talents that you might have lost sight of. We will work at your pace, on whatever issues feel most important to you.

My counselling approach is integrative and humanistic – I’m afraid counselling and psychotherapy can be full of jargon! I’m happy to explain more about these or any other mystifying therapy terms when we meet, but basically it means that I bring together elements of successful therapeutic approaches which emphasise:

~ building a trusting, warm and open relationship between us

~ the power of respect, honesty and acceptance in facilitating lasting change

~ a belief in your fundamental resourcefulness

~ acceptance and compassion for our human struggles and imperfections

Within this, I can also support you to use imagery or creative writing to help you make sense of things. We can use methods from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) if you feel that would be helpful for you. I have my own longstanding mindfulness and meditation practice and can support you with mindfulness-based ways of calming stress, anxiety or unhelpful worry.

I can also support you with Solution-Focused Brief Therapy approaches if you are specifically looking for short-term counselling.

I know that it can be a big step to come for counselling, and it’s important to me that you get what you need. Your counselling will be as individual as you are.

 

Please get in touch if you have any questions

or would like to make an appointment