What is Counselling?
Counselling is an opportunity to experience a safe and therapeutic relationship; one where you can develop the trust to be yourself, feel heard and understood, no matter what you’re facing or what has happened in your life. Our sessions together will be about exploring your thoughts and feelings around your experiences and looking at the relationship you have with yourself and others. The aim in doing this is for you to experience growth in understanding, increase confidence in yourself, develop new ways to think, cope and experience life.
What to expect from me?
I will work alongside you, offering a confidential space, free of judgement, so that you can feel safe enough to look at whatever is sore, difficult or getting in the way of you thriving in your life. What I won’t do is offer advice or tell you what to do. Sometimes I might offer up a challenge to your thinking or a nudge to expand your view, but you are the expert in your life, my aim is to help you understand that.
Confidentiality
The content of your sessions is confidential, which means no information about you will be passed on to any 3rd party. There are exceptions to this, and we will explore these in the initial session. But generally, I will only breach your confidentiality if you explicitly ask me to share your info, i.e. with a GP, or if you tell me that you, or someone close to you, is at immediate risk of harm. There are also situations whereby I am legally required to act on concerns for another’s safety, namely, child protection issues, money laundering or terrorism activities. It is always up to you what you share about your counselling experience, and who you share it with.
No matter what has happened to you or what you are facing in life, together we will strive to help you understand that you are the expert in your life and you can regain your confidence and vitality to feel better and move forward.
What is a session like?
Sessions last around 50-60 minutes and are arranged at the same time and day every week. I can offer in person sessions at the Kinneskie Clinic, Banchory on Wednesdays & Thursdays and at my private counselling room in Torphins, throughout the week. Online sessions are also available. If we are working together online, then I will generally use Teams. The number of sessions needed can vary. Some people might feel that they have addressed what they need to in a few sessions, while others may need a longer period of time. Progress will be reviewed at regular intervals with scope to stop, pause or continue, whenever you feel is right.
Find out more about the Practicalities and how counselling sessions are arranged.
Will it hurt?
Coming to counselling can bring up big, complicated feelings and it might be that in the beginning stage of the process, you will feel anxious, nervous or more emotional than usual. This is a normal response to the risk that sharing our most vulnerable thoughts and feelings can pose. That’s why we will go at your pace and only focus on what you feel ready to explore.
