What is Counselling

Counselling is a talking therapy, providing an opportunity to talk to a supportive professional in a confidential, non-judgemental, and safe environment. Counselling may be useful for someone who is experiencing a problem or life crisis, someone who wants to make changes in their lives, or for someone who wants to better understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in more depth. 

Talking things through with a counsellor who is not directly involved in the problems you may have can help you feel clearer and more confident about your choices moving forward. Counsellors do not give advice but may offer a different perspective for you to consider as you work together to explore and understand the meaning of what is important to you.

There are a range of different types of therapy. The therapy type that would best suit you will depend on what it is you have come to therapy for and what feels right for you. This will be decided between you and your counsellor once they know more about you and what it is you would like to bring to your counselling sessions.

Types of Therapy

Humanistic Therapy is a holistic approach and focusses on the ‘here and now’ unique client experience and perspective. The counsellor works with the belief that problems are not caused by life events but how we experience them, and encourages self-exploration to promote a deeper understanding of yourself in relation to the problem, how you are dealing with it and what is best for you moving forward. Humanistic therapists believe that realising your full potential is key to living a well-lived life.

Person Centred Therapy falls under the humanistic umbrella and focusses on your inner values and sense of self-worth, enabling you to find your own way in moving forward to positive change. The person-centred counsellor sees you as the expert and works alongside you at your pace and with what you want to explore to enable you to better understand yourself.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a structured, goal orientated approach to therapy, focussing on ‘here and now’ problems. The therapist works with you to examine your thought processes and how they influence behaviour, and work with you to identify coping strategies. Cognitive Behavioural therapists believe that negative thinking cycles affect emotional, psychological, and physical wellbeing and maintain unhelpful behavioural responses.  

Psychodynamic Therapy focuses on childhood past experiences and how they have subconsciously impacted on ‘here and now’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. The counsellor works with you to reflect and identify the root cause of what has created the present problem by exploring those past experiences, thoughts, and feelings to better understand how they are influencing you in the present. Psychodynamic therapists believe that most emotional and psychological problems originate in childhood experiences.

What can I talk about in counselling?

You can talk about anything you like. That is the joy of the therapeutic relationship. You may have come to counselling for a specific problem to let someone else help you make sense of things, but whatever is taking up your attention, the counsellor is there to think about you, with you.