What does counselling mean?

Counselling is in many ways an inappropriate term because it has been linked with giving good advice and direction. Today, counselling tends to emphasise the power of being listened to rather than being told what to do. Whilst there are several different types of counselling, most tend to emphasise the importance of gaining self-insight, with tentative ideas and prompts from the counsellor. My work is influenced most by 'psychodynamic counselling'. This differs from other forms of counselling because it's based on the idea that patterns of relationship (whether at work, at home or in the family) repeat and will do so in subtle ways within a counselling session. Finding a way to make use of these patterns is part of the counselling process. In my practice counselling sessions are individual (one to one rather than in a group) and take place in a private room for 50 minutes. Although it is not necessarily about 'digging around in the past', the psychodynamic counsellor uses their skill and experience to interpret relationship patterns in order to help you understand them. This is not about the counsellor having any special powers. The listening and occasional 'chipping in' results from thinking which is allied closely with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The difference from psychotherapy is that the counsellors do not invite you to lie on a couch nor usually attend sessions more than once weekly. There are alternatives and you may want to consider them but I am only able to describe and advocate my own profession. Incidentally, as a professional psychodynamic counsellor, I am a member of an association (The Foundation and BACP) with a code of ethics, complaints procedure and requirements for clinical supervision. Please see the Contact Details page for more details.

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