How talking can help
When people first come to counselling or therapy, they are often at a point in their lives at which they no longer feel that they are coping. Many of us find that the strategies that we have used in relating to other people are no longer working. The ways in which we think about the world are not solving day to day problems.
At the beginning of counselling many of us want to improve our ways of coping - find where the cracks in our defences are and get material with which to seal them. This kind of temporary repair can be effective in the short term and so our defences can be made stronger and taller.
However if the walls that we have developed to protect ourselves from the outside world have insecure foundations then any cracks may reappear. As a result deeper repair or healing is necessary and this process may be long and possibly uncomfortable.
Working with a therapist and taking the risk of being honest and open allows healing and repair to be achieved.
What conditions can it help and what benefits can I expect? People come to therapy with a variety of presenting issues, both interpersonal and intrapsychic. Difficulties in establishing and maintaining relationships with a partner, parents and children, employers and workmates may be a primary concern. As a result, a client may have an awareness of historical experiences of neglect, oppression and abuse which manifest as anxiety, depression, or disturbances in sleep and food management. Consequently, a person's distress may lead to a feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life, or a loss of positive self regard and sense of achievement.
Counselling and psychotherapy and the therapeutic relationship help to relieve these symptoms and promote cure, which is characterised as becoming the spontaneous, autonomous aware person that we can be.
What happens next?When you pick up the telephone and speak with me we will have a short conversation and we may agree to meet. I will offer you an initial 20 minute appointment at no charge. At this time we each have the opportunity to form an initial impression of each other with which we can decide if we can work together. You do not need to make this decision straight away, it is important that you find the right person for you to work with.
By this time you will have received a package of information about me and my work, and your rights as a client. If we decide to work together then we will plan for a small number of sessions to make a deeper assessment and plan our work together. I will get to know you and your life story and offer you a chance to make an attachment with me. After this period of exploration we may make an agreement to continue working at a deeper level or either one of us may decide to end our relationship.
