Counselling and psychotherapy aims to help individuals by the use of psychological knowledge to alleviate problems and explore the issues which affect our daily life. The process includes: offering support, healing, giving insights, raising self-awareness, helping to change perspectives and thinking patterns, exploring feelings and facilitating life changes. Everyone has certain patterns in thinking, feeling and behaviour, which are unique to individuals. When we are aware of our patterns, we become much clearer about the issues affecting us, how we want to change and what we can do to change. Counselling and psychotherapy can help the process for a person to become who they want to be.

How can counselling / psychotherapy help?

• By talking to somebody who is there to listen to you, you might become clearer about how you feel, or gain a deeper insight into your issues. This can enable you to make decisions, or better choices about your life.
• Many people do not really experience being fully heard and understood by another person in their life. Being heard in counselling and psychotherapy can be a healing experience.
• You cannot always change other people or the environment, but you can change yourself. By changing your views, feelings and attitudes, the environment surrounding you can change accordingly. For example, you cannot change the past, but you can change your view and attitudes towards it; then you might become able to accept it and live with it in a different way. Counselling and psychotherapy can facilitate a change in your life.
• It is not easy to see and understand yourself. However, you can find something new in yourself that you have not been able to be aware of, such as potential and creativity. Counselling and psychotherapy helps you go through the journey of change and growth.
• At the first session, you would be asked about what your expectations are and how you want to be when therapy finishes. The sessions will proceed towards your goals. However, therapy is not just about symptoms disappearing or being alleviated. What you learn and gain during the process is valuable and precious, and the experience of therapy should equip you with tools to deal more effectively with recurring issues or cope with new ones.