I'm driving to see my counsellor...yes counsellors have counsellors too. I have several years of established relationship with mine, I trust her with my innermost stuff and she has helped me to understand major things from my past which I was carrying into my now. Anyway, today's the day, we have a session booked. Here's how it goes...

I'm in the shower, "Now, if I just feel a bit poorly I won't need to go."

I'm getting in my car, "If I run out of petrol I won't need to go."

I'm driving along the long stretch of road that takes me there and at every turn I'm thinking, "I'm going to turn around, if I just go down here I can go home."

I'm outside her office and I'm thinking, "She hasn't seen me, I can turn around and go home."

Then, she comes to the gate and it's too late, I'm going to have to do this.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know that it's very usual to feel apprehension about seeing a therapist. It's very usual to want to turn around and escape to a very safe place i.e. "I can go home, instead of exposing my feelings, instead of showing myself".

In sharing something of my own experience, I hope I can help you to see that I get how odd it is to begin to work with a new counsellor - or even re-visit one you know.

How often do we go somewhere we have never been before, meet someone new face-to-face at this unknown place and then shut ourselves in a usually small room with the new person? We know we will sit quietly in that room with no distractions and begin to open-up about very personal details to the unknown person - how strange is that?

So, I want to reassure you, I know it can be anxiety-inducing visiting a counsellor for the first - or even the thirty-first - time. My aim is to help you feel comfortable and to grow a relationship based on trust and confidentiality.

Are you ready to talk?

Carla Boulton is a verified welldoing.org therapist in Shrewsbury.