Feelings can be hard to hold alone and you might want to share this with someone who is trained to listen and who offers a safe and nurturing space. I am here with you, as you are and I will get to know you as deeply as you want to be known. I believe that you hold the power within you to find the answers you seek and to make sense of who you are. I am your guide in following your agenda and what most concerns you. I will notice reoccurring themes and sometimes this means helping you to look in more depth about what you are not saying. Often counselling is the first time that someone has told the story of their lives out loud and hearing yourself speak words you have never been able to say, or maybe that you didn’t know were there. Being heard and seen can be very powerful.
You come to counselling with a “roadmap” about your life: ways of being, how you relate with others and the way you see yourself in the world and your place within it. I can support you gain insight into your experiences and how they have shaped you. It can be helpful to explore your roles and dynamics in relationships and your thoughts and feelings about this. Are there parts of you who nobody gets to see? Have you hidden them because you learned from others that these parts of you were unwelcomed and unsupported? You may have worked very hard in creating or/and enhancing another part of you to protect this. We can also explore conflicts between thoughts/feelings. I am here to help you notice if/when you need something different to what you currently have in your life. I believe that we can only ever become the experts of our own experiences, so I can support you to deepen your understanding of yourself.
I have a body and mind approach. Our experiences are at least
partly manifested in body sensations and illness. It may have been hard to
notice how you truly feel about what is going on within and around you. Body
sensations can tell us a lot about the truth of inner experiences and needs
which have gone unmet. You may notice there are things you do not want to talk
about. That is ok. Let’s notice your choice, how important this is for you and
how this supports you. We can always come back to this if you feel ready
enough. I respect and appreciate that it takes time to nurture the trust within
our relationship to talk about difficult and painful things.
There may be other, creative and safe ways to express yourself. Sometimes there are no words, they are not enough, or words can diminish the meaning of what you feel. If you would like Mindfulness and guided meditation as part of your sessions, then we can talk more about this. Counselling can also move beyond the confines and holding of the room. I can offer walk and talk sessions outdoors. We can walk somewhere local together, or while on the phone. Being able to roam on the path you choose can be really supportive of your therapeutic process.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if this is your time to reach out and I hope I can help you. I love my client work. I am impacted deeply by the journeys clients have taken and the courage they can build to help make their lives better than before.