Surely only ‘mad’ people seek counselling?

People look for counselling for a variety of reasons – and certainly not because they are mad!  Life is often complex and demanding, and many people find themselves at the end of their tether for any of many reasons. They could be:-

• unable to eat or sleep properly, feeling exhausted and constantly tearful and ‘flying off the handle’ 

• feeling angry, anxious or generally ‘down’ and aren’t even quite sure why  

• finding it hard to make relationships work either with partners, within the family, or at work   

• unsure about their sexuality, or are struggling with sexual dysfunction 

• dogged by persistent negative thoughts about themselves, leading to feelings of low self-worth 

• experiencing obsessive behaviour patterns which are making life miserable 

• overcoming a bereavement, redundancy, divorce or other important loss in their life – perhaps not even particularly recently and are puzzled as to why they haven’t ‘moved on’ like everyone seems to suggest they should

• finding any kind of change is difficult

• finding life has just become unbearable and feeling unable to function as they would like

• have recently experienced a trauma of some kind  

Can counselling help?

Counselling can help with all of the above.  Not only is counselling a supportive relationship, but if you are prepared to look at yourself and your feelings through the eyes of another then counselling becomes a challenging and exciting experience.  Counselling begins with you telling your story.  The counselling ‘space’ is entirely yours, free from judgement or criticism and it is completely confidential.

Counselling changes the lives of those who are prepared to engage and work with the process.