About Individual, Couple and Family Counselling

Counselling is a place where you can talk with a trained professional in the uttermost confidence. It's a place where you should always be met with kindness, sympathy, empathy and understanding.

A good counselor will never judge you. While they may offer advice from time to time, a good counselor should never take charge. Their job is to give you the space and assistance in helping you explore yourself. Helping you solve and cope with your own problems

If you wanted to fix something in your house you may call a plumber or a carpenter. Or if you wanted to  get fit at the gym you may enlist a personal trainer for a bit. It makes sense, it's not possible to learn everything and they have the skills and specialism you need.

It's the same with counselling.

A good counselor should, at a minimum, be trained in the following skills:

• listening
• understanding
• showing caring and concern

Counsellors also have to undergo training where they learn about the common problems that people face in their lives. They also see clients day-in-day out so they gain experience in helping people overcome problems and improve their lives.

Many counselors have had problems in their own lives and have overcome these with the help of other counselors, now they want to give back in turn.

Counselling can work for many problems including stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties as well as anger, grief, and emotional problems.

Life can be challenging at times and there is a lot of pressure to 'succeed' and meet societies expectations. Counselling can help during challenging times or just those times where you feel you need support to improve your situation.

If your feeling you don't have the happiness or peace of mind you deserve then counselling may be right for you. 

See my My Approach page for more details on the areas counselling can help with. 

And I provide individual, couple, and group counselling in Peterborough.

I've had a lot of counselling myself, which has opened my eyes to its benefits. And I have benefited immensely from the tools and techniques that I now teach. They've made my life simpler, easier and increased my ability to cope with life's inevitable difficulties.

I understand what you may be going through and how confusing it can feel, that’s why I offer a place where you can talk freely and be heard, and where we'll actively work on whatever is troubling you.

 As opposed to individual or couple counselling, family counselling involves the whole family. Even if only one person is having difficulty the whole family will attend together. That’s because, more often than not, one person’s problems will be impacting the whole family. Another common reason family will go to therapy together is to do with relations. When there is misunderstanding, conflict or a breakdown in communication between family members.

In family therapy, the whole family work on their relationships with each other. They tray to improve their communication and understand more about their family dynamics. Sometimes families attend therapy due to a change having occurred. For example, the loss of someone, moving to a new town or city, or the loss of a job of one of the carers.

Quite often problem situations have existed for a long time. Going to counselling together means that everyone within the family learns to understand how others feel. They can learn how their own behaviours impact others. Moreover, going together can be less isolating than going by yourself. And not least, it can make a big difference in returning a family back to normal healthy dynamics.

Relationship or Marriage counselling varies from couple to couple. For some couples, counselling can be transformative. It can help them radically improve their relationships and their lives. Other couples may benefit for assistance with a specific issue that has been bothering them. Counselling can be safe space to discuss issues and move past gridlock with more confidence and ease.

One of the basics of our approach is that we don’t believe relationships are easy. We disagree with the commonplace Hollywood notion that if you find your ‘soulmate’ then there will be no problems. Relationships take effort and skill, and even the best relationship can go wrong from time to time.

A good relationship or marriage counsellor will share some of the latest research on what makes a lasting relationship or marriage and what some of the common pitfalls are. They’ll also work with you to resolve specific problems in your relationship and provide advice (if asked) for maintaining a healthy relationship.

See below for some common questions I get asked.

I conduct counselling session in my own home. When you arrive, I'll take you to a private room where you can talk a bit about what's troubling you and I can answer any questions you might have. We'll discuss your goals and my approach and assess whether we are the right fit for each other.

After that it's usual to meet on a weekly basis, but the frequency can be decided by you. Most sessions will begin by asking how you've been, what's on your mind and what you want to talk about in the session. From time to time we'll check in to see how we are making progress toward our goal. Everything you say in counselling is confidential and you can rest assured you have a safe place to discuss what is troubling you.

I charge £35 per min session, it's usual to pay on the day, or via paypal or bank transfer before hand.

I have a 24 hour cancellation policy.

Let me know as soon as you realise you can't make a session.

If our appointment is within 24 hours then I reserve the right to make a charge, although I do make exceptions for extreme circumstances. Like you just went into labour!

As soon as you like.

I am open from Mon - Sun 8.30 am to 9.30 pm.

Some people want only a single session, some people want see someone for a year or more. At least initially it might be best to think in blocks of six, but it's really entirely up to you.

Yes, call to check

I am an experienced counselor and the vast majority of my clients get better. If  you feel you are not getting better you must discuss it with me and we can talk about it and maybe try a different approach. It's also worth bearing in mind that there are lots of other counselors in Peterborough, so if you think it's not working out you could try someone else. I won't be offended.

If you don’t like to talk a lot then we might try different things like drawing or mapping out your thoughts. It all depends on what’s right for you.

Sessions can last anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half, it’s best to discuss with me how long you think is appropriate. During the session I will try to get to know you better and they offer suggestions or ideas that you can consider trying out.

• About Me
• My certificates
• ​My Approach​​​
  
• Contact

• NHS - About Counselling
• Wikipedia - Counselling in the UK
• Mind - Counselling in Peterborough

Getting some assistance may be the key to turning things around, or to helping you process what you have been going through. Let’s discover how I can help.

Reach out to schedule your first appointment. During your first session, you can share a bit about what's troubling you and I can answer any questions you might have. We'll discuss your goals and my approach and assess whether we are the right fit for each other. To schedule your first appointment, call 01733 639 040 email info@www.mentalwellnesscounselling.uk. 

Whether it's individual, marriage or family counselling, I'm here for you