Glen Gibson - counselling in London Glen Gibson - counsellor BACP accreditation

Counselling & Psychotherapy

in Central London, Camden, NW1

Glen Gibson - Dip. Counselling, MA Psychotherapy, Dip. Psychotherapy
mBACP Accredited male Counsellor & UKCP Registered Psychotherapist

glen@glengibson.co.uk 020 7916 1342

Issues People Bring To Counselling & Psychotherapy

Please note that I use the words "counselling services London", "psychotherapy London", "psychotherapeutic counselling in London" & "talking therapy in London" and also "London counsellor", "London psychotherapist", "psychotherapeutic counsellor" & "talking therapist" interchangeably. I am trained & accredited as a counsellor, psychotherapist & talking therapist and I am happy to discuss their differences with you.
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People come to Counselling or Psychotherapy for many important reasons. Some of them are specific, like relationship concerns & others of a reflective, existential nature - many are usually both. Therefore the therapy focuses on you yourself, the issues you bring, their impact, how they inter-relate, why they are a problem to you, what they might mean, alongside who & how you are, and, if appropriate, what your next steps might be.

In This Section:

General Issues

Reflective, Existential Concerns

Counselling London Psychotherapy – Central London Counselling Services - Counsellor Camden Psychotherapist
General Issues

Relationship Counselling & Marriage Counselling

For details see Relationship Counselling & Marriage Counselling

Feelings & Emotions

See also Avoiding Difficult Feelings, Stress, Fear, Anxiety, Unhealed Wounds, Inner Loneliness, Alienation, Our Resilience, Hardiness & Protecting Our Personal Boundaries & Living To Our Full Potential

  • Anger management
  • Anger at life's limitations
  • Frustration – feeling frustrated or unfulfilled
  • Boredom - being bored
  • Stress (also work & office related), problems dealing with pressure, anxiety, dwelling on things, distress, agitation & feeling agitated, apprehension, nerves & feeling nervous, impatience, being impatient
  • Wanting to be more relaxed, at ease, worry less
  • Seeking ways to soothe ourseIf
  • Fearful or fear driven, scared, afraid or feeling like a frightened child
  • Panic attacks
  • Trauma, traumatised by past events
  • FeeIing unbalanced or overwhelmed
  • Wanting to be more secure
  • Sense of being out of control, seeking selfcontrol
  • Discomfort or ambivalence
  • Hurt or pain, shutting pain down
  • Torn between conflicting emotions
  • Making sense of emotions, feeling unemotional or overemotional
  • Intensity of our, or others, emotions
  • Tendency to absorb others' emotions, feeling porous
  • Easily invaded by others or the world
  • Shaping our response by how others convey their feelings
  • Troubled by certain emotions
  • Problem identifying feeIings when we experience them
  • Unsettled, not sure where things are going
  • General unease
  • Emotional pain
  • Uncomfortable, negative, overwhelming, unwanted, painful or "bad" feeIings
  • Wanting to overcome emotional problems
  • Stuck, blocked, closed, numb, paralysed - numbing feeIings or bottling things up, keeping things inside - locked, buried or trapped
  • Feeling empty or cut off
  • Fearing the "floodgates will open" if we get in touch with our emotions, or let them out
  • Loneliness - a lone soldier in the world
  • Disappointment & dissatisfaction - unsatisfied or rarely satisfied
  • Despair
  • Meandering along in the world - "getting by" where survival is no longer enough
  • Existing as if on the sidelines, e.g. waiting for the perfect person or situation
  • Avoiding uncomfortable feelings, putting them "on hold"
  • Drifting off, remoteness or being up in the clouds
  • Dreading certain things
  • Sense of impending doom or threat
  • Mood swings or dips, moodiness, being erratic
  • Envy, jealousy
  • Excessively needy, clingy or denying our needs
  • Being like a doormat
  • Guilt & shame, feeling guilty, ashamed or not proud in certain aspects
  • Like an outsider or observing the world, yet struggling to fully participate in it
  • Overly defended or defensive, closed down at times
  • Superficial
  • Need to be more solid or grounded
  • Difficulties tolerating own company
  • Emotional self-awareness
  • Helplessness
  • Hopelessness
  • Feeling abandoned
  • Heart not in life, heart closed
  • Wanting to be more open
  • Wanting to make peace with ourseIf or others
  • Sense of ongoing suffering or emptiness

Sadness, Unhappiness, Lethargy, Apathy, Depression

See also Depression, Inner Loneliness, Alienation & Unhealed Wounds

  • Sadness (sad) & sorrow, unhappiness (unhappy)
  • Being miserable, not upbeat, "down in the dumps"
  • Feeling low or flat
  • Sense of Iife stagnating, as if abandoned
  • Out of touch or in a rut
  • Struggling with engaging in the world
  • Closed down in certain aspects
  • Nothing seems to matter - apathetic
  • Acting as if on automatic pilot or sleepwalking in Iife
  • Exhausted, tired, lethargic
  • Existing as if in a bubble or shell
  • The pain of living a life unlived
  • Depression, feeling depressed
  • Existential grief
  • Lost personal meaning, purpose & direction (for details see Living To Our Full Potential)

Life Transitions

See also Living To Our Full Potential & Changes & Transitions

  • Adjusting to change or a new phase, e.g. post university blues, new surroundings, being in London, relationships, new marriage, parenthood, retirement, etc.
  • Life has come to a head & now seeking change or future direction
  • Needing a different structure or strategy, wanting to Iive differently
  • Seeking new ways, because old patterns are no longer working
  • Needing to change course, or moved forward which can be exciting, yet scary
  • Life crises
  • Lost, isolated or seeking deeper sense of seIf
  • Struggling to cope with modern life
  • Coping with new role at work or home (e.g. as a partner, mother or father, working from home)
  • Personal growth, development & creativity
  • Midlife concerns
  • Older Iife concerns, retirement, ageing

Self-Acceptance

See also Self-Esteem, Confidence, Criticism, Insecurity & Assertiveness

Social Situations

For details see Social Anxiety Or Phobia & Life Re-Appraisal - Our Internal Resources

  • Socialising well yet struggling to relate
  • Relating with others, developing empathy
  • Difficulties connecting or "fitting in" with others
  • Conflict avoidance
  • Socially awkward, social anxiety or phobia
  • Lack of social interaction, community involvement
  • Easily feeIing disconnected, disrespected, controlled or abandoned (for details see Our Sensitivities - Pushing Each Other's Buttons)
  • Shyness concerns, socially shy
  • Fear of relationships
  • FeeIing as if we don't belong
  • Effects of bullying, in the past or now, at home or workplace

How We Behave

For details see How We Behave, Perfectionism, Control, Being Over-Demanding, Competitiveness, Uncertainty, Self-Esteem, Confidence, Criticism, Insecurity & Assertiveness & Our Resilience, Hardiness & Protecting Our Personal Boundaries

  • Wanting to change unhelpful behaviour
  • Acting in problematic ways which become stressful
  • Seeing ourseIves acting or "putting on an act", yet seem unable to stop.
  • The effects of our actions on both us & others
  • Rationalising our behaviour, yet not quite believing our rationalisations
  • Wondering why we behave the way we do (see also Unhealed Wounds)
  • Losing control at times
  • Behaving in ways as if to compensate how we feeI inside
  • Effects of making impulsive decisions
  • Apologising & saying sorry - always or never, forgiveness issues
  • Doing things against our better nature
  • Perfectionism, being over-demanding, paying attention to detail, fear of making mistakes, getting things wrong, failure or not knowing
  • Excessively goal orientated, over-demanding of us or others
  • Trying very hard, yet not seem to be getting anywhere
  • Overly competitive, e.g. win at all costs
  • Aggression, out of control aggressive behaviour
  • Attacking, throwing verbal insults, blaming, criticising
  • Power - empowering or disempowering us or others
  • Masochistic behaviour - punishing or rewarding ourseIf in unhelpful ways
  • Tendency to self-sabotage, impulsive acts or being selfdestructive
  • Seeking ways to put less pressure on us
  • Falling back to old ways or patterns
  • Wanting to change negative cycles
  • Going around in circles
  • In a hole, yet unable to stop digging
  • Playing out familiar scenarios
  • Person of extremes - all or nothing
  • Control issues, being controlling or controlled
  • Being surrounded with so much stimulus & choices, that we feel overwhelmed
  • Effects of creating dramas & excitement
  • Blowing things out of proportion
  • The way we get, or don't get our needs met
  • Keeping busy without giving time to us
  • Stuck in certain roles
  • Unhelpful character changes, e.g. when driving, drinking or in intimate moments
  • The faces we show to the world, e.g. "cool", "clever", "important", "world saviour", "pacifier", "poor me" or "martyr", "grumpy", "bully", "rebel", "joker"
  • People pleasing, overly compliant, always keeping people happy, or making it better for everyone
  • Avoiding certain things, e.g. hating confrontation, conflict, arguments, rows
  • Problems with authority
  • Difficulties giving, asking for, receiving help, initiating or retreating (see also Relationship Counselling & Marriage Counselling)
  • Our head "up in the clouds"
  • Clumsiness
  • Having too loose or too tight rules or boundaries
  • Passivity, withdrawing, withholding, sulking, shutting down, closing off, putting up a wall, "the silent treatment", passive aggression
  • Cynicism, being cynical, inner cynic, meanness, unkindness
  • Assertiveness issues, being unassertive, struggling to take initiative or say "No"
  • Struggling to impact on the world (for details see Our Will - Mobilising Our Resources To Act)
  • Uncomfortable gap between how we behave & who we are inside (see Our Identity & Personality)

Excessive Habits, Drives, Feeling Out Of Control, Compulsions & Addictions

For details see Unwanted Habits & Addictions

How We Think

See also How We See The World, Thoughts & Beliefs, Stress, Fear, Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Confidence, Criticism, Insecurity & Assertiveness & Our Resilience, Hardiness & Protecting Our Personal Boundaries

  • Being in our head
  • Wanting to be understood or to clarify thoughts - why we are the way we are
  • Out of sorts, concerned & not knowing exactly why
  • Struggling to understand aspects of Iife
  • Conflicting or contradictory thoughts, contradictions
  • Confused, wanting to untangle or dissolve our confusion, flipping from one view to another
  • Seeking clarity or understanding of thought processes, how our mind works
  • Dilemmas
  • Thinking in compartmentalised boxes
  • Either/Or thinking - e.g. right/wrong, good/bad, success/failure
  • Negative thought patterns or restrictive beliefs
  • Catastrophic fantasies, believing that something bad will happen
  • Preoccupation with future scenarios or dwelling on the past, difficulties being in the present moment, caught between the past & what might be (see also Releasing Ourselves & Letting Go)
  • Making poor decisions or misjudgements
  • Unable to see other possibilities or creative solutions
  • Nothing seems to fit
  • Dyslexia problems, dyslexic support
  • Forgetfulness
  • Overwhelmed by too many possibilities
  • Over-thinking or over-analysing, "head overloaded, full of stuff"
  • Constantly searching for answers
  • Need to know everything
  • Rationalising, tendency to rationalise & ignore our feeIings, or our own principles
  • Difficulties shifting from our mind to our heart

Motivation & Will

For details see Accessing Motivation, Acting From Our Personal Will, Connecting To Our Own Inner Direction & Changes & Transitions

  • Procrastination, Motivation, Indecisiveness & Lateness; putting things off; time wasting; indecisiveness, delaying, postponing or hesitating over important decisions & putting our ideas into action; lacking a driving force; seeing things through; starting with enthusiasm, yet unable to finish things
  • Lacking goals
  • Risk taking
  • Seeking the courage to change
  • Motivation issues
  • Floating around in Iife
  • Wanting to be more resilient
  • Blurred future
  • Difficulties determining what we really want
  • Knowing what we want but finding it hard to act
  • Settling for whatever happens, going along with things
  • Wanting to step out into a new road

Men's & Women's Concerns

Culture

Health Concerns

Our Body

For details see Our Body

  • Body size, shape, condition, image, acceptance
  • Our body identity
  • Attraction
  • Respecting & looking after our body
  • Somatic reactions
  • Body vitality
  • Relationship between our body, feelings, mind, sexuality & spirituality

Sexual Problems

For details see Sexual Difficulties

  • Sex problems for men & women
  • Desire & Intimacy
  • Sexual pleasure & boundaries

Work

See also Work-Life Balance, Workaholism, Addicted To Work, Work Addiction & Workplace Counselling Services

  • Work-Life integration, e.g. "married to work", overworking, "workaholism", being a "workaholic"
  • Doing unfulfilling work
  • Employment, job difficulties
  • Harassment & bullying (subtle & not so subtle)
  • Career dilemmas
  • Redundancy
  • Burnout concerns

Impact Of Our Past

See also Impact Of Our Past & Releasing Ourselves & Letting Go

  • Memories, circumstances & events over time, that hold us back
  • Problems recovering from Iife's disruptions
  • Issues or wounds from childhood
  • Impact of early or recent trauma
  • Abuse - child, childhood, emotional, physical, sexual

Ageing & Maturity

See also Ageing & Maturity, Living To Our Full Potential, Existential Concerns & Releasing Ourselves & Letting Go

  • Entering into a later phase
  • Revisiting our perspectives & values
  • Retirement
  • Coping with illness
  • Life reflection
  • Unfinished business, healing relationships, finding peace

Grief, Bereavement, Loss, Letting Go

See also Grief & Bereavement Counselling, Releasing Ourselves & Letting Go & Living To Our Full Potential

  • Bereavement or grief about a loved one
  • Mourning
  • Effects of pregnancy termination or miscarriage on men & women
  • Effects of what was once, is no longer
  • Loss of power, control
  • Loss of our identity
  • Grieving a friendship or relationship
  • Loss of love
  • Loss of interests
  • Letting go
  • Endings & beginnings

Counselling London Psychotherapy – Existential Counselling - Counselling Services London - Counsellor Camden Psychotherapist
Reflective, Existential Concerns

Related Topics:

Grieving

  • Grieving that nothing seems to matter anymore
  • Tearful & moved, yet not depressed
  • Midlife crisis (mid-life crisis)
  • Grieving aspects of our Iife so far & the mistakes we have made
  • Wishing we have done, or are doing more
  • The effects of the world around us reducing, e.g. friends, socialising, etc.
  • Loss, grief or letting go of a stage of Iife - what was or what might have been
  • Other issues of middle or older Iife
  • Existential grief

Feeling Stuck

  • Life rewarding, yet unfulfilling - seeking inner fulfilment
  • Disillusioned, dissatisfied or disappointed - what's the point?
  • Questioning our Iife & achievements
  • Doing lots of things, yet not being fully engaged
  • Loss of focus or life purpose
  • Overwhelmed or confused

Something Amiss

  • Sensing a gap in Iife
  • Sense of pointlessness, aimlessness or alienation
  • Sense of life passing by - drifting in the world
  • Sense of emptiness or loneliness
  • Existential angst

Stirring, Longing

  • Needing a different role in Iife
  • Desiring a different Iife impetus
  • Seeking our inner direction
  • Seeking our home truths
  • Stirred by Iife's mysteries
  • Yearning or longing for deeper connection, inspiration or significance
  • Wanting to live to full potential

Life Direction

  • Realising that it is not us, who is driving our Iife
  • Life or work direction - reaching a "what now?" stage
  • At some sort of crossroads, threshold or turning point

Meaning in Life

Dreams

  • Dreaming & the dreams we dream
  • Dream interpretation, wondering what our dreams might mean

Freedom & Responsibility

Our Mortality

  • Death anxiety - facing our own mortality, fear of death, dying
  • Coming to terms with our own fragile earthly existence, our mortality

Spirituality & Religion

  • Challenges to our creative or spiritual Iife
  • Reactions to spiritual awakening
  • Religious matters

Counselling London Psychotherapy Central London

glen@glengibson.co.uk

020 7916 1342

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