By actively listening the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective.

Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way.

In the counselling sessions the client can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family.

Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand.

Acceptance and respect for the client are essentials for a counsellor and, as the relationship develops, so too does trust between the counsellor and client, enabling the client to look at many aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have considered or been able to face before.

Counselling provides a regular time and space for people to talk about their troubles and explore difficult feelings, in an environment that is dependable, free from intrusion and confidential.

The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the behaviour or situations which are proving troublesome and to find an area where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start.

A counsellor will respect your viewpoint, while helping you to deal with specific problems, cope with crises, improve your relationships, or develop better ways of living.

The goal is that the client understands themselves and their issues better, to get clarity and to get in touch with and develop coping and strengths in order to put plans into action to change their situation.

Counselling works through facilitating the client to cope better, not by advising or by providing answers, and not by directing a client.

Sessions normally take place once a week. Making this regular commitment gives you a better chance of working through your difficulties to a solution.

My approach is integrative, utilising the continuum from solution focused to psychodynamic. I use the person-centred approach as a foundation, drawing upon the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy The objective is to change self-defeating or irrational beliefs and behaviours by altering negative ways of thinking. Aims to remove the obstacles that people place in their own way, and also to achieve a healthy balance between short-term and long-term goals. Family / Systemic counselling Focuses on the networks of significant relationships within which people live their lives, to explore the meaning and interactions they have. The client group tends to be family members. Psychodynamic work Is based on the idea that past experiences have a bearing on experiences and feelings in the present, and those important relationships, perhaps from early childhood, may be replayed with other people later in life. Motivational interviewing Motivational Interviewing is useful for helping to work with ambivalence to make changes and achieve goals. It involves building motivation, strengthening commitment and maximising strengths. Solution Focused Counselling Short term work with short and long term goals to achieve change.  The BACP is the umbrella organisation for counselling in the UK