Counselling is a ‘talking therapy’ which happens when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress he or she might be experiencing or a sense of dissatisfaction with life. This may include feelings of anxiety, depression, trauma or the loss of meaning and purpose. By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective.

Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. In counselling sessions, clients can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family. Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand. Counsellors will encourage the expression of feelings and, as a result of their training, they will be able to accept and reflect the problems of clients without becoming burdened by them.

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy   www.bacp.co.uk  

WPF Therapy   www.wpf.org.uk