What is Counselling?

Counselling is a type of talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment.

Counselling offers you a safe place to talk about anything that may be confusing, painful or uncomfortable. It allows you to talk with someone who is trained to listen attentively and to help you improve your life.

A counsellor will support you and respect your views. They will not usually give advice, but will help you to find your own insight and understanding of your problems.

Counselling can often involve talking about difficult or painful feelings and, as you begin to face them, you may feel worse in some ways. However, with the help and support of your therapist, you should gradually start to feel better.

In most cases, it takes a number of sessions before the counselling starts to make a difference, and a regular commitment is required to make the best use of the therapy.

 

Why would I need counselling?

Counselling aims to help you deal with and overcome issues that are causing pain or making you feel uncomfortable.

Counselling can help you to:

• cope with a bereavement or relationship breakdown
• cope with redundancy or work-related stress
• explore issues such as sexual identity
• deal with issues that are preventing you from achieving your ambitions
• deal with feelings of depression or sadness, and have a more positive outlook on life
• understand yourself and your problems better
• feel more confident
• develop a better understanding of other people’s points of view
• help with problems that might be more difficult to define like a difficulty in maintaining friendships/relationships or having a sense of unfulfilment.

 

What is Psychodynamic Counselling?

Psychodynamic counselling can be used to address a wide range of issues. A psychodynamic counsellor can help you explore your thoughts, feelings and beliefs, which may involve discussing past events, such as those from your childhood. They will help you consider how your personality and life experiences influence your current thoughts, feelings, relationships and behaviour. This understanding should enable you to deal with difficult situations more effectively.

The aim of psychodynamic counselling is to bring the unconscious mind into consciousness – helping individuals to unravel, experience and understand their true, deep-rooted feelings in order to resolve them.

It takes the view that our unconscious holds onto painful feelings and memories, which are too difficult for the conscious mind to process. In order to ensure these memories and experiences do not surface, many people will develop defences, such as denial for example. According to psychodynamic counselling, these defences will often do more harm than good.

Depending on what issues you may be facing, psychodynamic counselling can be short or long term. Sessions take place on a one-to-one basis, for a minimum of once a week.

Please also see our listing on the Counselling Directory.