Why Counselling?
Sometimes friends and family can help, but there are times when professional support is beneficial. People often find that it’s good to talk to someone in confidence who is not going to give you opinions or advice, or who is not already involved in the situation. This can be of great value when everything seems to be getting on top of you and you can’t see the wood for the trees.
Counselling can offer you the space, opportunity and time to explore your feelings and to understand yourself more clearly. In beginning to understand yourself, you can hopefully begin the process of understanding others - and how you relate to them - more effectively. Everyone has their own "right answer" "truth" and "reality". In exploring this, you may then be able to make informed choices that are right for you, to be able to move forward in your life, and be at peace with who you are.
This is why counselling cannot be about offering advice. It may be that you wish to explore issues relating to the present, the past, or both - you set the agenda and you set the pace. My role as counsellor, is to walk alongside you as best I can, whilst you work out for yourself what is right for you. It is often harder to do this on your own, and there is something about sounding out your thoughts and feelings in the presence of another, without their opinions or judgements getting in the way, that makes counselling so effective and so valuable.
Counselling can sometimes result in change, but equally can result in acceptance or understanding of what cannot be changed.
