Both counselling and therapy provide an opportunity to develop self-understanding and recognise our own ways forward. I believe we all have the resources to reach our potential, and that it can be helpful to be supported in this process.

Generally speaking, counselling involves exploring a specific issue or life event (perhaps bereavement, the end of a relationship, job loss), which may be comparatively recent. The work may be short-term, perhaps involving eight to twelve sessions.

Therapy is more likely to be open-ended and entail working together over a period of several months or longer, looking underlying patterns and concerns – where you can go more deeply into a continuing process of change and development. Your reasons for seeking help would tend to be more longstanding issues that have affected your quality of life in different ways – perhaps periodic depression or chronic health difficulties; or recurrent patterns such as unsatisfactory relationships.

It may not be clear at the beginning which would be more helpful to you: it can take time to develop a sense of what you want and where you want to go with the work. I am happy to support you in that process.

I hope I've given you an idea of how therapy or counselling might help you. And if you'd like to explore things further, do contact me ...

Counselling or therapy can offer a safe space for you to explore difficult experience and feelings.

Choosing the right person for you is an important and very personal decision: the relationship you build over time will determine the effectiveness of the work you will do together.

You might want to look for a therapist or counsellor who offers flexibility of approach and the opportunity to explore the options at an initial appointment.

I hope that the answers to some of these questions will help guide you towards making the right decision for you. And if you think we could work well together, do contact me to arrange an initial appointment ...

That varies. It can be short-term, time-limited and addressing a specific issue. Or it can be open-ended, looking underlying patterns and concerns. It may not be obvious to you which you are looking for.

It can be helpful to find a therapist or counsellor who offers both. Ideally, there will be flexibility that enables your work together to deepen and adjust according to your circumstances.

I generally suggest you consider committing initially to twelve sessions, although some people prefer to think in terms of eight. Towards the end of that time we’d review our work together and discuss our next step – which might be to carry on working together on an open-ended basis; or deciding to end our work at that point, or perhaps just for for the time being.

If you'd like to arrange an initial appointment to explore this further, I'd be pleased for you to get in touch.