Almost everyone has heard of Sigmund Freud. Around 1900 he developed something which became know as psychoanalysis, and this is the start of what we now call counselling. Freud and his followers really did lay their patients on a couch and encourage them to talk. Hardly any modern counsellor does this, although there are still psychoanalysts about. Since about 1950, counselling has become a face-to-face activity, with most counsellors becoming ‘person centred.’ This means we are much more approachable than traditional psychoanalysts and aim to offer three core conditions for counselling:

• Congruence (openness and honesty)
• A completely positive approach to clients
• Empathy

In my counselling, I aim to start with the core conditions above. Being approachable is really important to me. I am aware that a large number of us at some time in our lives need some kind of help (current estimates suggest as many as one person in three).

Beyond this, I work with whatever counselling approaches I have gained from my training and experience to help my clients to achieve what they want to achieve, in as short a time as possible. Counselling doesn’t have to take forever! I work on an emotional level, and also on a cognitive (thinking) level. we are all different, and different approaches suit different people. One size definitely doesn’t fit all. I am to treat everyone as a separate individual in their own right.

Of particular importance, counselling is COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL. Nothing my clients say to me is passed on to anyone else at all. I explain this at the start of the first meeting.