** Special limited offer for new clients - free initial counselling sessions available on Mondays **
Click here for more details and to get started.
What is Counselling?
Counselling – also known as talking therapy – is a conversation where we focus on whatever is on your mind. This is often a stressful issue in your life and affecting your mental health (the way you think, feel and act).
Counselling can also be very useful when you don’t have a mental health concern but do want to improve your quality of life, to be more successful or happier, for example. See our About page for more about this.
Our counselling sessions are a relaxed, safe and confidential setting where you can express yourself freely without being judged. We believe everyone is of equal value and deserving of respect and compassion.
Counselling can prevent a minor problem from becoming a major one. No issue is too big or too small. If it matters to you, it will matter to us.
Can counselling can help me?
Counselling is for everyone – and brings significant benefits to the vast majority of clients. Research confirms that people who access talking therapies are much more likely to have better health and life satisfaction than those who do not.
People come to counselling for a wide variety of reasons. It is often when they have been unsuccessful in their own efforts to deal with a situation in life. Particularly when it is a problem which worsens over time or keeps coming back.
Some people however may need additional support (see Safety Notes at the bottom of this page). If you are unsure, just drop us a line here and request a (free) phone conversation to discuss this.
Some people know from the outset what they would like to gain from counselling – they may have a specific goal in mind. Others may need to ‘get things off their chest’ first and then take it from there.
These are some of the more common difficulties that people seek help with (click on each for some helpful info):
Choose Specialist Telephone Counselling for:
Effectiveness
The saying ‘one size does not fit all’ is also true for counselling, so we do not use only one therapeutic approach for all clients as this would only help some of them. Instead, we use concepts and skills from various psychological traditions, in order to best help each person.
This integrative, psychodynamic counselling approach has been shown to be effective – even after counselling has ended.
Convenience & privacy
Telephone counselling is at least as effective as face-to-face counselling, but it is more convenient as clients do not have to travel to appointments. You only need your phone and to be somewhere with minimal distractions – which might be at home, on a lunch break, in your car, anywhere.
Value for money
Most people who access counselling are satisfied after having only one or two initial sessions. Some people, however, benefit from having ongoing counselling over time.
Unlike most other counsellors, we do not expect clients to commit in advance to having multiple sessions.
We offer a flexible approach to longer-term counselling and empower clients to decide if and when they would like follow-up sessions. It can be reassuring for our clients to know that we are always here for them.
One session at a time
Counselling only happens one session at a time and we aim to help clients to get the most out of each and every counselling session with our integrative and single-session therapy (SST) approach.
This includes using concepts and tools from cognitive therapy, client-centred, and psychodynamic counselling, for example.
We can also provide information and signpost to other resources, according to individual needs.
Thinking of accessing mental health / well-being support and advice by talking to a counsellor is a positive sign, of having self-awareness, motivation and courage.
A high-quality conversation with a caring, experienced counsellor can be transformative. So start now by dropping us a line if you would like to start a conversation with us.
Our specialist telephone counsellors:
- are UK-based.
- have 25+ years clinical experience (private practice and NHS) in helping people with a wide range of difficulties in life and their mental health.
- specialise in telephone-based talking therapy.
- have accredited counselling and other relevant professional qualifications.
- are registered with a professional body of therapists and adheres to its Code of Ethics.
- are fully insured as counsellors.
Safety Notes:
Counsellors do not provide medical diagnoses or treatments – although we can certainly discuss issues related to these. Many people find talking therapy preferable to taking medication. However, if you are taking medication (or are physically dependent on a substance) please consult a medical professional before reducing your intake. Withdrawal effects can range from unpleasant to dangerous.
If you need urgent medical advice you can access the NHS online or call on 111 (24 hours).
If you need emergency help to stay safe, call 999.
If you need urgent telephone support you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 (24 hours) or text SHOUT to 85258.