Psychotherapy and Counselling provides an opportunity to talk to someone in complete confidence. For all of us there are times when we experience difficulties or problems which may be helped by a form of talking therapy.

Counselling is not about giving advice, but about listening and working with clients in order to find better ways of dealing with life’s difficulties.

The longer you continue the more you will connect with patterns from the past and see how they influence you now. We all get into bad habits, behaviourally and in our ways of thinking. We are often not aware of our unhealthy thinking patterns, so learning to identify them is the first step towards change. Where a problem persists, psychotherapy looks in depth at those patterns. Its emphasis is on the future rather than the past, focusing on outcomes which can be profoundly life-changing.

A typical session takes the form of a conversation in which you are free to speak about whatever you wish, in complete confidence. Sometimes the conversation will flow, at other times it may move into silence. Sometimes we will work on a specific issue, such as anxiety, anger or depression and I will work with each individual to explore past, present and future, leading to greater self-awareness and healthy change. This can be difficult at times, it may involve some some reading material, or worksheets that can be helpful in order to start to identify patterns of behaviour and thinking.

My role as a therapist is to work together with you as a client, guiding you through the difficulties of lie, until you no longer need the extra support. Most clients come weekly to start with, and may then find that sessions can become less regular, reducing them to perhaps every two weeks, every month, or as and when. Each individual is different and the treatment approach is tailored to each individual’s needs and specific struggle.

What is couples counselling?

Couples counselling is a form of therapy that looks to improve communication and resolve issues within an intimate relationship. A couple will generally attend sessions together, but on occasion each individual within the relationship may also be offered individual sessions with the view of resolving issues within the relationship. If your partner is reluctant to attend, you may start by having individual sessions with your partner willing to join at a later date.

A couple counsellor is trained to work with couples, and will take some historical background from each individual in order to gain some insight into how each individual learnt about relationships, conflict, forgiveness and communication styles within the family of origin. When communication has broken down between individuals it can also be helpful to have an external third party who is not emotionally attached to either party who can take and impartial view and can either feed back what is being observed in the couples dynamic, or simply slow down the communication and help the couple communicate in a more healthy way once more.

Jane trained at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships, and participates in Continuous Professional Development in the area of relationship counselling.

Please feel free to call me on 07778 515599 or e-mail if you have any questions or concerns regarding therapy.