About Counselling & Psychotherapy
Background
There are times in everyone’s lives when they experience difficulty & unhappiness and find it hard to cope. These difficulties can be endured for long periods of time or can be brought about by specific events. Sometimes the cause of the difficulty is obvious, but at other times the feelings can be very hard to understand.
Why Go To Counselling?
There are many reasons why people choose to go for counselling or psychotherapy. They can experience stress over a relationship or a work issue, they can feel anxiety or they can be finding it difficult to cope with a bereavement. Sometimes they may be struggling with an addiction or they may have suffered a traumatic event.
There are also times, however, when the reasons for the feelings can be hard to understand. They can feel confused, as if they have lost their sense of purpose and it can be overwhelming and lead to feelings of low self confidence and helplessness.
What Can Counselling & Psychotherapy Do?
Counselling and Psychotherapy offer the person a chance to talk and to begin to look at their lives and relationships differently. The therapist does this by providing the client with a safe and secure environment where they can prioritise their own needs without feeling guilt or shame and begin to uncover the reasons behind how they are feeling. The therapist will then help them to develop strategies to cope with these feelings and situations such as finding different ways of communicating and developing positive coping skills. This will enable them to become more assertive and self-confident and to make choices for themselves which are realistic and in their best interest.
Some reasons why you might benefit from therapy
Depression
The symptoms of depression vary from one person to another and can be a change in sleeping or eating patterns, difficulty concentrating, feelings of hopelessness, irritability and becoming short tempered. Therapy can help in developing a tool-kit of strategies to manage feelings and to prevent them becoming overwhelming.
Relationship Counselling
Relationships can often encounter difficulties and it can be when communication is needed most that it is hardest to do. Counselling can provide a space where both individuals within a relationship can be heard and where they can develop better ways of communicating and resolving conflicts.
Anxiety
Anxiety can be felt as both physical and psychological symptoms. For example people may experience palpitations, chest pains and faintness or feelings of dread, panic and being out of control. Anxiety may have many different causes such as a person’s childhood, the coping skills they have developed and how they see themselves. Counselling can help in identifying these and, where necessary, finding better skills and thinking patterns.
Other Issues
These are just a few of the reasons that bring people to therapy. Other reasons can be bereavement, suicidal thoughts, addiction, work issues, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, abuse and personal development to name but a few.
