Counselling Explained

What is Counselling?
Psychodynamic counselling gives you an opportunity to share your problems with someone skilled at listening to you and interpreting your experience.
It can help you to understand how your past experiences and current behaviour may be linked, and can lead to a more creative understanding of present circumstances. It will allow you space to explore thoughts and feelings about yourself and your relationships with others, and may help you to make significant changes in your life.

Is it really safe to talk?
All personal information which emerges in the sessions is confidential. No information will be disclosed to a third party without your prior consent, unless in exceptional circumstances, e.g. requirements of a Court of Law.
Individual members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) subscribe to a Code of Ethics in all aspects of the counselling process and practice.

How do I find a counsellor?
You may consult your doctor who may agree to refer you to a listed therapist although not surprisingly, many surgeries have limited resources in this respect. Alternatively, you may contact a recognised practitioner yourself, through one of the professional bodies such as BACP, and arrange an initial session.

What actually happens?
At the initial session the counsellor will try to understand something about you; your background; your present circumstances; and your reasons for coming. It may be possible to agree then and there whether to continue, or you may want to go away and think about it. You may decide counselling is not for you - or that it is not the right style or the right therapist.

If, then or later, you decide to go on, the counsellor will agree a contract with you. This will cover the frequency of sessions and whether they will be for a time-limited period or open-ended
It will include arrangements for breaks and holidays, the fees for each session and how they are to be paid. Whichever scheme you agree to, there is no obligation to continue longer than you feel necessary.

Time-limited Counselling means working for up to 15 sessions in a largely 'solution oriented' way.
Open-ended Counselling as its name suggests does not define the period but continues, discovering and addressing underlying difficulties that affect how you feel, how you work and your relationships.

Sessions last for 50 minutes during which you are free to talk as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. Therapists do not sit in judgement.
We endeavour to help you to understand your own circumstances and address the issues which trouble you.