Counselling & Psychotherapy

Counselling Central London Psychotherapy – London Counselling Services - Counsellor Camden Psychotherapist
Why People Seek Counselling & Psychotherapy

Getting To Know Yourself The therapy provides the opportunity for you to know yourself better.

Making Time For You If only we could solve our difficulties with an easy & quick formula. Often in society there is little time dedicated to understanding all of who we are - our own individuality, beyond labels or shallow identities. We can give priority to our external experiences - what we do, yet overlook our internal world - who we are. Balancing the demands of career, family & relationships can be a challenge. We can be so busy that we find it hard to be still & reflect about our situation, who we are & what matters for us, or find a safe enough place to off-load.

Being Heard In normal social situations it is unacceptable to express all our feeIings and tell everyone about our experience. Even with people we trust, our closest friends or family, limits are usually set in what we say, and they may find it hard to give objective advice. What people are prepared to hear may also limit our expression. We may restrain what we disclose or fear the response. We may value the anonymity, professional feedback & help of a counsellor or psychotherapist as someone independent to turn to, not directly connected, who isn't too close and can hear you without a vested interest, preconceptions, who doesn't say things to simply please you. Therapy offers us the opportunity to get things off our chest so we can be heard & listened to. It can be a place to speak the unspoken & express our thoughts, however they may sound.

Supportive Resource Some of us can be too proud or ashamed to ask for professional help, fearing that if we do, something is "wrong" with us. Yet receiving a different response to what is our usual experience can also be significant. Many people view counselling & psychotherapy as a regular supportive resource, with someone in their lives they can turn to, just as acceptable as maintaining our diet and physical health.

Change Some may find it too painful to talk to anyone else about their fears, pain or suffering, which can sometimes be almost unbearable. We may feeI unable to solve our struggles & need help overcoming them. We can't do everything on our own and it can dawn on us that waiting for change can go on forever. (For details see Changes & Transitions)

Confusion You may simply be seeking counselling or psychotherapy to unravel things or to be less confused, wanting to make certain connections or be more in touch with yourself.

Making Sense You may experience your Iife being like a jigsaw, and I see my role as helping make sense of what the whole picture might look like, including any redundant, new or missing pieces.

New Chapter Some people come to therapy wanting to begin a new chapter in their Iife. Some may have put things that eat away at them at the back of their mind - "on the back burner", recognising that now is the time to do something about this.

Specific Issues Some people may want to address very specific issues in their lives, yet often there may be underlying considerations.

Underlying Or Non-Specific Issues Some people may want to handle general difficulties, maybe managing a current phase in life, wanting to balance things out, wanting to overcome or manage uncomfortable feeIings, explore why they are driven by certain things, or to change their self-beliefs. Other people may have vague, non-specific or indefinable issues, which may emerge over time. You may have a sense of something inside floating around, and want to explore this. You may for example struggle in taking risks or simply need to evaluate or change something important (see also Changes & Transitions). We may have fallen into a job, relationship or way of living, which we are now questioning. We can be confident, fulfilled, creative or in control in some areas (e.g. work) yet not in others (e.g. relationships). Aspects of our Iife may no longer fit, or sit well with us. We can discover that we are at a place in our Iife, that we don't want to be. We may want to be freer, less trapped, and avoid storing up deeper problems in the future. We may be embarrassed or ashamed about aspects of our character. We may have been living as if in cocoon. We may experience emptiness inside or have a sense of longing or need to belong, which we can't quite define (see Inner Loneliness). We may turn to unhelpful habits or addictive behaviour. Some may also want to reconcile their lives, accepting who they are & where they are at. Non-specific issues may also include:

• Changes in our lives, emotional difficulties, dilemmas, crises, confusions or maybe a sense of alienation.
• Feeling restless, being so busy juggling with all the different balls, yet unsure which ones to let go, or where would they land.
• Being balanced, competent, in control, satisfied, creative or successful out in the world, yet feeIing differently inside
• Echoes from our childhood
• Existential & life meaning concerns
• Life direction

Changing Our Patterns You may be seeking different ways of managing or changing your patterns or cycles:

• You experience an event - the stimulus (e.g.: an unavoidable conflict, making a difficult decision, work pressure, loss of independence or control, etc...)
• You will have thoughts & beliefs about this
• This may trigger confusion or feeIings like stress, fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, depression, etc.
• Your response may be to block out some uncomfortable, unwanted feelings by selfdamaging or sabotaging, running away from problems, doing things in excess (eg: drinking, working, overusing the computer), withdrawing, punishing others, moodiness, etc... or simply getting stuck. The counselling & psychotherapy may explore other possible responses, what supports you, and what might be counterproductive.

Coming To Terms With A Part Of OurseIf We've all had the experience of catching ourseIf by surprise "That's not me, or supposed to be me" we might say, when we aren't aware of what we are doing. Our actions, words, thoughts & emotions - ones "we weren't supposed to have" - can seem to arise from nowhere, yet they are in us. An example could be when we are driving in our car, we take on a totally different persona, than the one not behind the wheel, our character changes. Sometimes it can be hard to reconcile aspects of us which don't fit our image. Some of us can have a tendency to "split off" a part of our lives, repressing or denying aspects of our character we find difficult to accept. As we integrate these parts of us, we may have more of a sense of equilibrium. (See also Connecting To Our Own Inner Direction)

Our Home Truths We have all at times tried to convince ourseIf of something in order to avoid some uncomfortable home truths. We can be so used to playing roles in the world, we neglect our sense of who we really are. Counselling and psychotherapy offers an opportunity to connect more to our real & authentic seIf, as we discover & accept all of who we are. (For details see Living To Our Full Potential)

Our Direction & Existential Concerns We may be in genuine despair, regret or anger, a sense of deep sorrow, grief or pain for both us & the world, and these experiences may be of an existential nature. Some people report these emotions like a kind of lamenting, wailing of the soul. A cliché for some, yet very real for others, is the experience of midlife crisis or sense of everything passing by, as we seek a different or new purpose, which is meaningful to us. Not really in the right place, we may want to change our life direction, or have our "old Iife" back, yet recognise things won't be quite the same again. These less tangible challenges can also be explored in psychotherapy & counselling. (See also Connecting To Our Own Inner Direction)

Suffering & Love Underneath our concerns can be a need to find ways to manage the world's inevitable sufferings, to love & be loved, and to explore what it means to be human. (For details see Suffering & Love)

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