Choosing to seek counselling is a difficult decision. Do you really need it? What are you actually struggling with? What type of counsellor is best for you? How do you find this person? And will they actually engage with you, or sit silently behind their notepad, while you do all the talking?
My approach is to form real, warm, authentic relationships with my clients. Yes, we deal with some very deep, even hurtful challenges. But we’re also both human. We talk. We reflect. We question. We challenge. Sometimes there are tears, at times laughter. And we build a genuine relationship.
This takes time. It involves sizing each other up at first, to ensure a good fit between us. But once this trusting relationship exists, it becomes the safe context in which we can try out new ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us. And discover alternative modes of engaging with it.