Help for Your Life
Individual Counselling
Individual counselling is a unique, one-to-one relationship between the counsellor and client who agree to meet privately and regularly for a period of time with the aim of restoring emotional well-being to the client. It is different from any other relationship as it is focused 100% on the client. It allows you a safe place to be yourself and to say what you truly feel in confidence without fear of judgement, criticism or unwanted advice.
Talking about feelings is a necessary part of therapy, which might seem strange at first, especially if you are used to bottling things up. When something is getting you down, counselling can help you gain a clearer understanding of your emotions. Feeling that these are OK allows you to deal better with whatever is in your path at this moment in time or about whatever has happened in the past.
Relationship Counselling
Relationship counselling (also known as couples counselling) is an effective form of talking therapy. Couples counselling is a term applied to talking therapy for two people within a relationship.
Sessions take place in a safe space and seek to improve communication and resolve issues within an intimate relationship.
Typical of sessions, much of the work you do will take place within the counselling room itself. However, it’s common that as your counsellor, I will ask you to complete ‘homework’ in between sessions. This may be in the form of specific tasks or to discuss a topic together at home.
You will get the chance to talk about these exercises in your next session, discussing any challenges you came up against and how you felt about the experience.
Whilst couple therapy is ideally suited to couples attending the sessions together, sometimes one partner may be reluctant to attend, so you can look to speak to me on your own, to begin with.
You might find your partner wants to join you after you’ve had some sessions alone and it can also be helpful to intersperse couple sessions with individual sessions.
Psychosexual Therapy
The aim of psychosexual therapy is to help you improve the physical intimacy between you and your partner and overcome or manage any difficulties you’re experiencing. Whatever your gender, sexual orientation or relationship status, psychosexual therapy can support you to feel more comfortable about becoming intimate.
There can be various causes for difficulties, their origins may be:
physical (illness, disability, accident, surgery or medications)
psychological (depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions)
emotional (unhappiness in the relationship, unresolved grief)
situational (certain situations or environments)
Visiting your doctor is a good first step if you think the cause may be physical. Sometimes there will be ways your doctor can help (for example, trying different medications), but if not, they may recommend psychosexual therapy. While you can see a therapist on your own, if the problem is affecting your partner it helps if they can attend sessions too.
Therapy seeks to help with any problem or difficulty relating to sexual relationships.
In men this may include:
Difficulty getting or maintaining an erection.
Premature ejaculation, or other ejaculation problems.
Delayed ejaculation.
A lack of sexual desire.
For women, this may include:
Vaginismus; painful spasmodic contraction of the vagina in response to physical contact or pressure, especially during sexual intercourse.
Dyspareunia; pain during sex or being unable to have penetrative sex
A lack of sexual desire.
Talking to a stranger may feel uncomfortable, but therapists are not here to judge. By being honest and talking about what you’re experiencing in this confidential setting, I will be able to help you explore the root of the problem and offer ways of helping you overcome or manage symptoms.
I will arrange an initial consultation with you in the first instance. This is a chance to talk with me about what you’re hoping to gain from therapy and also give you and your partner (if they join you) the chance to explore what may be causing the difficulty. In further sessions I will advise you to try various exercises outside of the session. You can then reflect on how well these exercises went in future meetings.
Clinical Supervision
Clinical supervision is important in the counselling profession for both beginners and the more advanced counsellors. As an experienced therapist, I seek supervision whether it be for help with diagnosis, working with a client whose presenting with an issue that is unfamiliar to me, identifying blind spots, exploring dilemmas or when seeking advice on trying new techniques.
Although my therapeutic philosophy is taken from Hawkins & Shohet's Seven eyed model, I incorporate an integrative approach to supervision primarily because it allows me to be flexible in my approach to supervision. This approach to supervision also allows me to be open to working with a wide range of counselling practitioners, sharing knowledge and experience from different frameworks.
