WHAT IS COUNSELLING?

Counselling is an opportunity to explore yourself with someone whose aim is to listen, and to help you try and make sense of what is going on for you and your life.

There are many different sorts of counselling, and you may be confused about where to start. The British Association of Counsellors and Therapists has information about this. BACP

I am a Person Centred counsellor. This type of counselling is based on the theory that many of the problems people experience arise because they are trying to live life in a way which doesn’t suit them. The reasons why people end up doing this are complicated, and even the person themselves may not be aware of them. Person Centred counselling theory suggests that if a person is provided with an accepting, authentic and empathic counsellor they will feel safe enough to explore themselves more fully. In this way counselling gives the possibility for uncovering these reasons and allows the person to make sense of their situation and then to make choices as to how they live their lives.

Even where people are living happy and fulfilling lives, significant life events and losses can leave them floundering and stranded, needing help to make sense of what is happening, and space to express feelings that are not easily tolerated by those around them. Here again, Person Centred counselling offers that help, and that space.

To some extent, the theory behind a type of counselling probably doesn't matter as much as finding the right person to be counselled by. The main point about Person Centred counselling is that its practitioners believe that the person coming for counselling is the true expert on their life, but has become lost and confused along the way.