You might be wondering if counselling can support you whatever challenging period in life you are going through at the moment.  I wish I could tell you that making the first contact is really the most difficult step. I am here to support you with the rest.

I offer 20-30minute free phone call for you to find out what is counselling and if it could help you.  You can learn about me as a counsellor and if you feel you can talk openly and honestly with me.  Issues which I am passionate about and are close to my own personal and work experiences are: anxiety (general, social anxiety), relationship issues, low self-esteem/self-confidence, stress/burnout including career coaching, work related issues, chronic fatigue and bereavement.

 I  truly believe and have experienced myself too that every one of us has capacity with right support to find a way to feel better again. Counselling is not about fixing you or finding what is wrong with you, more like understanding, finding clarify and helping you to work through complex, difficult emotions. Sometimes it is about understanding why nothing feels good or what do you really feel.

Counselling can help you to challenge negative thinking patterns, and give you new tools to cope with difficult situations. 

How counselling can help you?

Counselling might not take away all your anxiety (general, social or anything else) but through greater self-awareness and acceptance,  it helps you to understand and anticipate your every day triggers.  When you understand your anxiety better and where does it originates from, it supports you to cope with it better too.  You can start feeling yourself again and anxiety is not overtaking your day to day life.

Anxiety but also other life events and experiences such as bullying, relationship issues, work related issues can lead to low self esteem, feeling sad, lack of self confidence, and feelings of being not good enough.  When you come to understand why you feel the way you do,  it helps you to cope better with different situations. You can start feeling more positive about yourself which further builds up your self esteem.

Counselling can help you to understand what is going on with your relationship/relationships (partner, parents, friends, colleagues).  It gives you better self- awareness, helps you to understand your own behavior,  supports you be more present and comfortable with different relationships. This includes having clear, healthy boundaries, but also to learn why it can be difficult to leave the relationship. Clients have noticed how past relationships e.g. with parents or partners are affecting their current relationships and have found better ways of coping. 

Men and therapy/counselling  I feel that it is important to normalize therapy for men too. Men are expected to cope with it all and asking for help can feel shameful. My own background in traditionally male orientated industry, together with additional counselling training for counselling men, helps me to offer counselling which my male clients have found approachable.  Ultimately there is no difference in how counselling works for both men and women.  It can be that couple sessions can be enough to support you to talk about any troubling issues better with your partner, family and friends.

Based on my own experiences in business environment, I am passionate to offer stress and burnout management as part of counselling. Stress is not necessarily only about work,  but can relate to your personal life or to be a combination of both. Lack of time is commonly discussed. Clients who have suffered stress related symptoms have found that talking about their situation openly has helped to find clarity and some practical coping tools.  A successful career does not have to be a stressful career too.

Trauma and traumatic experiences can be something you have kept as a "secret" for too long or they are still affecting your life one way or another. Counselling can support you to talk about your experiences without judgement and confidentiality.  

 We are all unique in how we grief, and grief is not something which you need to get over with. Counselling gives a space to talk about your bereavement and loss at your own time with someone who does not judge. Bereavement and loss can be about a loved one, a pet, divorce, friendship,  a job or anything else in your life. 

Loss can be related to your health as well. It can be really hard coping with a chronic illness, e.g. chronic fatigue. Counselling enables you to share your experiences, how challenging it is to cope with constant pain and how maybe your daily life, hopes and dreams have had to change. It can help you to discuss with your loved ones how you might feel like a "burden" or need to show "brave face" even when it does not like it.

Counselling may not take all your issues away, but it can give you ways of coping with them a lot better. It can allow you to move forward again with your life. 

What happens at counselling session?

In case you have not had counselling before, just a couple words to explain what counselling is. I still remember how daunting it was to make the first contact with my first counsellor.  I did not know what to expect or what was expected from me. 

Person-centred way of counselling is for me as a counsellor to listen when you are ready to talk. There is no agenda, there is no need for you to share anything what you are not ready to share with me. It can take time to build the trusting relationship, and sometimes you may find that I am not the right counsellor for you. It is okay!

You choose what you want to talk about and what you would like to achieve by having counselling sessions. My role is to support you with this and we will review the progress together.  

As an integrative counsellor, my counselling approach is adapted according to the needs of you as a client.  This might include using CBT, ACT and creative arts as part of counselling process.

I believe that we all need someone whom we can share confidentially how it really feels for us, without any judgements. Someone who listens us attentively.

Walk and talk therapy

Not only do I believe the healing powers of nature, but I also think that walk and talk therapy may suit better for those who are not keen on "traditional" counselling set up. Therefore I will be offering talk and walk therapy after initial sessions in York/Beverley/Pocklington areas.