What is counselling and how could it help me?
Counselling provides an opportunity to voice your innermost thoughts and feelings in a safe and non-judgemental environment with a trained professional. Sharing openly can be difficult and require courage, but by being curious and exploring our feelings we can begin to know ourselves better.
Counselling offers you the space and time to talk things through with someone:
- who is able to help you unravel your thoughts and emotions,
- who will help you explore alternative perspectives
- who will help you consider your choices
- who will support you to find your own answers
Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life. Shannon L. Alder
Counselling is not about giving advice or instruction, it is a collaborative relationship within which you can focus on what is important to you . Together we can explore how you feel in the safety of a relationship founded on trust, confidentiality and respect. Counselling allows you to begin to experience yourself differently, to trust in your own strengths and beliefs so you can experience a more fulfilling and meaningful existence.
Counselling Sessions to suit your personal preference
Online therapy
I started offering online sessions via Zoom at the start of the pandemic as an essential means for clients to continue to access their counselling sessions. Online counselling has proved to be as equally beneficial as face to face or walk and talk therapy, with many clients having expressed feeling more relaxed being in their own surroundings and say the process of talking has been easier from the safety and familiarity of their own home. Online counselling also offers the flexibility to access sessions if your location changes - for example if you are travelling back and forth from university, or travelling for business, as long as you have your device you will be able to continue with your sessions.
Walk & Talk Therapy
Walk and Talk Therapy (also referred to as Eco-therapy or Outdoor therapy) is a form of counselling and psychotherapy that involves conducting the counselling session outdoors in nature and talking about your concerns whilst we walk side by side.
Research has shown Walk and Talk therapy helps reduce levels of stress, anxiety, depression and panic and enhance a sense of well being, essentially offering the benefits that walking and nature offer alongside the psychological benefits of talking to a counsellor. It can be particularly beneficial for those who find the prospect of sitting opposite a counsellor for 50 minutes a bit daunting or too intense. Walking side by side can feel less intimidating than having a counsellor looking directly at you.
Face to Face Therapy (in the counselling room)
Face to face counselling is perhaps the 'traditional' way we imagine counselling taking place. I have a comfortable and spacious counselling room in Cranleigh, Surrey where I hold sessions. Some clients prefer to access counselling this way, finding being separate from their own home allows them to speak more freely, away from any concerns about being overheard by family members. Some people find they feel more connected with the counsellor if they are physically in the same space.
When you contact me, we can discuss the different options in more depth in order to ensure you access what is most suited to your needs.
Areas of Specialism
YOUNG PEOPLE
I currently work part-time as a school counsellor at an independent school in Guildford. Previously, I spent a number of years working for the NHS (Surrey Youth Counselling Service) as a youth counsellor, I also supported young people at Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, and continue to see many young clients in private practice. I feel passionately about working with young people, who increasingly suffer with stress, anxiety and depression due to the ever increasing pressures and challenges they face. The pandemic was particularly difficult for young people with so much social isolation, uncertainty and change and whilst life has returned to normal the impact on mental health and wellbeing on young people is still very present.
LIVING WITH ILLNESS, END OF LIFE, BEREAVEMENT AND LOSS
I spent four years working for Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice as a Counsellor supporting patients and their families coping with the effects of chronic or terminal illness and bereavement. Navigating our way towards death or through grief can be challenging and hard to talk about, especially with those closest to us. I have a special interest in this area, helping individuals to explore their multifaceted and complex spectrum of emotional, physical, cognitive and behavioural responses to loss and change.
STRESS
I have extensively worked with individuals experiencing high levels of stress and have written and delivered Stress Management Workshops to teams in business. Whilst stress is an inevitable part of life, I can help you identify your personal triggers for stress, and support you in implementing personalised strategies to reduce both the psychological and physiological impact of stress.
