Are we doing ‘counselling’ or are we doing ‘psychotherapy’? That’s an argument counsellors and psychotherapists have been having probably for as long as I’ve been alive if not longer (I’m in my late 40s). My view is largely that it doesn’t matter what we call it. What matters is that it works for you.
My aim in working for you isn’t to get you from point A to some un/specified point B, it’s to explore who you are and what’s happening for you. In the process that will likely facilitate you moving from a point A (which is presumably why you came in the first place – you weren’t happy at point A) towards a new point. Rather than being goal-orientated and setting you tasks in the hope that one of them will provide some magical insight, we’ll probably embark upon a journey of unpicking and understanding in conversation. If you choose to set yourself homework and want to talk about it, I’m all ears.
I genuinely believe that talking with someone who is trained to listen empathically, who can help you connect some of the dots that are there but you may not have quite the language for, can radically change your experience of yourself. It all comes from you. It just helps to be talking to someone who can listen to who you are, rather than listen to what they want to hear.
This is what I try to do.
I work in a non-directive style – I won’t be dictating the topics of discussion or deciding when to move on. I work empathically, and try to stay attuned to where you are.
I work exclusively online.
Online work is usually done via Zoom. The advantages of online work are that I can often be much more flexible about times and regularity, and you can have counselling from the comfort of your own home.
It’s not always easy to arrange the peace and quiet to be able to do that, which I understand, so online counselling may not be for you, but some people find it extremely helpful not to have to travel to a different place to do counselling.
If this is something you’re interested in, please send me an email and we can talk about it more.
The comfortable chair 