How does counselling work?
If you are thinking of coming for counselling and are unsure about what to expect, I hope the following will help to reassure you.
Your first appointment will last about 30 minutes and you will not be charged for this time, because it is an opportunity for us to have an informal chat and a time for you to ask questions about anything that may be concerning you. We will discuss confidentiality and agree a working contract between us, so that we are clear about each other's expectations. If you decide to continue with counselling, we will agree a time for your next session.
Ongoing counselling sessions will last for 50 minutes each and at the end of each session, if you wish, we will arrange your next appointment. There is no limit to the number of sessions you can have - you decide when you feel you no longer need counselling.
Person centred counselling does not give you advice or a set of procedures to follow in order to feel better. It considers that everyone has within themselves the ability to decide the best path to take in order to move forward with their lives. However, seeing that path is sometimes difficult through the dense fog of internalised fears and hurt that may be enveloping you.
You will never be judged and you will always be accepted for who you are. I will always be open and honest with you and in this environment of mutual trust and openness, hopefully you will feel able to start looking at those internalised blockages.
After 6 sessions together, we will take time to assess your progress and revisit our contract, because expectations may have changed. By this time, our level of trust and working will have deepened, but it will always be at a pace set by you.
There will be peaks and troughs along the way, but I will always be there with you through that journey until you feel empowered enough to 'go it alone' without the fog, but the door will never be closed.
*"My whole life, I had been told what to do and how to feel...this was the first time I was able to actually glimpse who I really was...I hadn't realised what I had become."
*"The silence was strange at first - not having someone chipping into my thoughts and taking over, but it became very precious to me - someone just being there while I thought things out."
*"I knew I felt in control enough to stop the counselling, but it felt scarey in a way. I guess knowing that I could go back at any time, made it easier for me to be my own counsellor...I never needed to go back either to counselling or the past, I only look forward now."
* Quotations from past clients, printed with their permission
