Overview of counselling

I work with young people from the ages of 11 and offer talking therapy as well as a creative approach to understand their world. Often my work with young people will include incorporating some solution focussed work, psychoeducation and positive psychology. I greatly encourage young people to share all aspects of their world with me as this helps to build and develop trust and acceptance in our relationship. Sharing things that are important to them, things they can relate to and how they can express themselves (e.g. music, film, books) is a great way for us to connect and for me to understand them. We can also include these things as part of the therapy.

In counselling sessions with adults, I work in a range of ways to encourage you to access and explore your feelings, thoughts and experiences. This can be through talking and creativity. Work can be short or long term and this is based on what the client needs. Sometimes, we don’t know what we need and that is ok too. We will fluidly explore things and as time progresses it is likely you will gain some understanding of where you need to go in therapy. 

Being creative in counselling isn’t about being an artist, it is about accessing and exploring your inner world in a safe way. For example, using images to pinpoint a feeling or memory, sand tray to bring unconscious thoughts and feelings into the conscious, doodling/drawing when you don’t have the words, visualisations to build a picture of what is going on for you and also useful as a grounding tool/place of safety, body awareness to notice where you hold tension and emotions in the body, mind maps to gain clarity. Creativity means many different things and is a great way to develop self-exploration, to express yourself and to gain understanding. It can be used in counselling sessions with young people and adults.

I offer online sessions via Zoom to both adults and young people. This is a good option for those who might feel uncomfortable with face to face counselling, those who are fitting counselling in around their work and home lives as well as those who are unable to travel or access my premises. We will discuss things like confidentiality together so you feel in a safe space to share, without being disturbed.

Short-term therapy generally consists of 4-8 sessions. It is useful for those who want to focus on a particular issue and/or need a space for a short period of time to work some things out. Long-term therapy is likely to involve looking at the past and making connections between the past and present to move forward. Short-term therapy will often focus on managing present problems, without retrospective exploration. The counselling process is different for everyone and it is important you consider what you need and want from therapy.