Counselling can offer the opportunity to work through any challenging time or situation. Life can be tough, stressful, and overwhelming and having the space to work through our thoughts and feelings or think about what next steps we might take next can be invaluable.
People come to counselling for all different reasons. It may be that they are unhappy or feel stuck and want to make a change and don't know where to begin, a sudden event or traumatic experience might be making life really hard to manage, or there may be a specific issue to work through. Whatever the reason, counselling can offer the time to look at what is happening in a safe and supportive environment with someone completely removed from the situation.
I offer short term and long term face to face or online individual counselling. Making the decision to start counselling can be a really hard and scary one. In our initial session we would talk about what had bought you to counselling, if you think counselling might help you and if so, whether we would work well together and how that might look going forward.
IFS can be a powerful and transformative way of working. As you will see from the video linked here, the modality takes the belief that all of our minds are multiple (which is positive!) and that these parts, which we are born with, make up our personality; who we are, our qualities, skills, attributes etc, but life experience may mean that our parts are forced to take on new roles or jobs in order to protect us and to keep us safe. By getting to know these parts and why they think, feel and act like they do, we can begin to understand ourself and begin to make the changes in our life that we want to make.
As well as parts, we all have 'Self'. I believe that self is the core of us, our spirit, but discovering what this means to you is deeply personal. "Self is in everyone. It can't be damaged. It knows how to heal."
(Quote: What is Internal Family Systems? | IFS Institute (ifs-institute.com)
As an integrative counsellor I draw on many ways of working, but IFS informs my practice and I may offer this way of understanding to you in our sessions if I feel it would be beneficial. As with any approach I offer, it is up to you whether it is something you choose to adopt.
I offer online therapy for individuals ages 16 and over. This work can be very different than working face to face, but has been shown to offer just as much value to clients. Links for sessions conducted via Microsoft Teams will be sent at least 24 hours before a session.
I am qualified as a Certified Cyber Therapist with the Online Therapy Institute who offer a broad and comprehensive training about working online and all the different ways this may suit different individuals.
Having spent time working with young people in school and college settings, as well as having worked for a young person's counselling charity, I have worked with young people of varying ages about difficulties that they may be experiencing. Being a young person and making sense of who you are can be really challenging and having the opportunity to work through this with someone separate from home and school can be really impactful.
Therapy with children and young people can look different to therapy with adults. Some children and young people can find sitting across from a counsellor intimidating for example, and, depending on their age, some may find it easier to talk sitting side by side whilst playing a game of cards, playing with toys or doing some drawing.
Parents and carers often reach out when their child is going through a hard time. Sometimes it can be equally helpful for the parent or carer to look at how they are experiencing their child's difficulties and seek support for themself.
I am a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This means that I work in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice (you can find the full document here). I am fully insured and hold an Enhanced DBS.