What is Counselling?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a form of talking therapy which looks at the way in which our thoughts and beliefs about events both present and past affect our behaviour and our feelings. It also looks at how the things we think we have learned through experiences (e.g. I was once bitten by a dog so dogs are dangerous) can negatively affect us e.g. feeling afraid of dogs so going on long detours to avoid them, and helps people gently unlearn those behaviours and free them of their fears and unwanted behaviours.

CBT methods can be used to treat many different mental health problems and can be very effective at enabling people to take control of their anxiety, depression, stress, negative thinking patterns, phobias, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress and many other problems.

Person Centred Therapy

Person centred therapy is about the creation of a safe and non-judgemental relationship space in which a person can relearn to be themselves while they explore the things that are causing them emotional distress. Carl Rogers, the founder of Person Centred therapy believed that each person deep inside knew what they needed to grow and be happy, but that the external world’s demands (parents, family, work, friends, society) could make them lose touch with that inner knowledge and that this gave rise to feelings of being unable to cope, and unsure of oneself.

Person Centred therapy is effective for all forms of psychological distress, and its theory forms the basis of most therapeutic relationships.

Integrative Therapy

Integrative therapy seeks to combine the best feature of two or more distinct models of therapy for the benefit of the client. Working integratively enables a therapist to tailor the therapy to best meet the needs of that individual and work flexibly.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

NLP was devised in the early 1970s by John Grinder and Richard Bandler after watching eminent psychotherapists such as Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir working with clients. They reasoned that excellent therapists share similar skills and behaviours to be so successful and they observed these in a process known as “modelling” to identify how the language, behaviour and internal states of the subject affected their ability to achieve.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming offers many different tools and techniques for understanding how the human mind works and has many applications in therapy, education, business management and leadership, and sports psychology.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy

Solution-focused therapy is an approach to psychotherapy based on solution-building rather than problem-solving. Although it acknowledges present problems and past causes, it predominantly explores an individual's current resources, options and future hopes. This can help them to look forward to the future and use their own strengths to achieve their goals.

As its name suggests, solution-focused brief therapy is considered a time-limited approach, however, the technique is often incorporated into other long-term therapy types and effects can be long-lasting.