If you're unsure if counselling is for you, take a look at the commonly asked questions below.

Counselling is an opportunity to speak confidentially to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings, and life experiences, without fear of judgement. Counselling is most often offered on the basis of a weekly 50-minute session, but depending on your situation, this may differ.  The exact arrangements would be discussed and mutually agreed. 

Counselling can help you explore your mental and emotional wellbeing, relationships, challenging life events, understand problems more clearly, or simply feel heard without judgement.  Whether it is something that has occurred recently or in your past, exploring this with a counsellor may be the key to increasing understanding and self-awareness. People also find that counselling can provide new perspectives on aspects of their life. 

There is a wide range of presenting issues that may lead clients to counselling, many of which are common life challenges that most of us will face at some point in our lives. Not everyone will need counselling to manage these but talking to a counsellor can support people to to explore thoughts and feelings, gain insight, and develop healthier ways of coping. 

Counselling isn’t about being “fixed” — it’s about being heard, understood, and supported to make sense of your experiences at your own pace. 

This is not an exhaustive list, but it will give you an idea of the areas which are commonly worked on in counselling.

• Attachment

• Bereavement

• Caring responsibilities

• Childhood experiences

• Depression

• Disability

• Divorce

• Experiences of discrimination – including racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia

• Family conflict

• Living with illness and disability

• Loneliness and isolation

• Loss 

• Low confidence and self-esteem

• Loss of direction

• Low mood

• Mental health disorders

• Miscarriage

• Neurodiversity

• Parenting

• Perimenopause/menopause

• Pregnancy/motherhood

• Relationship challenges or breakdown

• Sleep issues

• Feeling 'stuck'

• Trauma

• Work-related issues

This will depend on the type of therapy that a counsellor practices, and also what you are seeking through counselling.

As a person-centred counsellor, I will be guided by you on how you wish to use your 50 minute sessions. You can decide what you would like to talk about.  You may have a certain goal or expectation of what you would like to achieve in your sessions and we will discuss and explore these.

There is no pressure to talk about anything you’re not ready for.  

Each session usually lasts 50 minutes. How many sessions you have depends on your needs—you might have a few weeks, several months or longer. This will depend on what you would like to work on in our sessions. 

I can work on a short-term basis if you have a specific, focused issue to explore, or longer-term basis to give more time to work on more complex areas. The exact number of sessions can be agreed between us. 

We will have regular reviews of our sessions where we can discuss how the counselling is going and your thoughts on what other areas you would like to explore.

The answer to this is very much down to personal preference and what your individual circumstances are.

Online or phone counselling is not a 'second-best' option and can be just as effective as seeing a counsellor face-to-face.  I have had dedicated training to offer online and phone counselling and have experience of working effectively with clients in-person, online and by phone.

If you do choose online or phone counselling, please bear in mind you'll need a private space to have your sessions, free from interruptions and noise.

If you're unsure of what would suit you, please get in touch and we can discuss what would work best for you.