Only you can decide if counselling is something you would like to try, however, if you are struggling to cope and are finding day-to-day life difficult, you may find it beneficial to seek outside support.

Talking to someone confidentially who is not a friend or family member can be helpful and give you the time and space to explore your feelings or any issues you may be experiencing. Working with a counsellor can help you develop better understanding of yourself and find better ways of coping, allowing you to get the most out of life.

Therapy is different for everyone. Therapy is a safe place to explore your feelings, and issues or concerns that may be playing on your mind. It can be a relief to express what you may not have been able to share before. Talking to someone who understands, and listens without judgement, can be very helpful.

Having a space where you feel heard, seen and understood can be very moving. You might find yourself getting upset, crying, getting frustrated or angry in therapy or between your sessions. This can feel unsettling, however the purpose of therapy is for you to explore the different emotions that come for you and my role is to support you with that and help you process and cope with the emotions that come up.

I aim to offer an appointment within 1-2 weeks of your enquiry. The first session will be an assessment session where we will discuss your issues and what your goals with therapy will be. We will then arrange suitable timings for your future sessions based upon availability.

The first session is a chance to get a sense of how I work, and how we may work together. I will ask you to talk about what brings you to therapy and we will work through some questions on an assessment form, which I will fill in based on your responses. This helps me assess if they I am the right person to help you.

I will ask background information, including around family and relationships, your support network, work and your past, as well as the history of the issue you want to work on. It can be helpful for you to also ask questions, to help inform whether you feel you would be able to work together with me.

Confidentiality is one of the main ways in which therapy differs from many other forms of helping - for example, talking to friends or family can rarely offer the same degree of confidentiality as talking to a counsellor. Because of this confidentiality, you will find that - as you get used to coming for therapy - you are freer to talk about whatever you wish to.

No therapist can offer 100% confidentiality: there are some situations where the law requires disclosure of risk (e.g. certain child protection issues) and in common with most other therapists, there are some situations where I may not be able to keep total confidentiality.

In particular, if someone tells me that they are thinking of harming themselves in a way that I believe puts them at serious risk, or if someone tells me that they are doing something that could put others at risk, I may not be able to keep such information confidential. However, breaking confidentiality is rare, and only happens after talking to the person concerned.

I will listen and ask questions, but I won’t tell you what to do, that is not my role. This may feel strange or difficult initially, however, I am there to support you to open up and explore your thoughts and feelings, guiding you through the process. Sometimes just talking about your problems will help you see them in a different light and bring up new ideas you may not have considered.

There is no set length of time for therapy, it is unique to each person and their individual circumstances. You can decide how long you want to have sessions for. You may choose to have a fixed number of sessions, alternatively you may choose to have an open-ended arrangement, depending upon the depth of your issues.

We can discuss what is most appropriate for you and make an initial arrangement when we first meet. You can also choose to end counselling at any time you wish and we will discuss your goals and aims both when starting and we will re-visit these during the process. Therapy will only continue for only as long as it is of benefit to you.

It is important that when you come for counselling that you feel comfortable and able to discuss your issues and you are free to express how you feel without being worried about other peoples perceptions of the issues that you raise. Having a friend or family member with you is not usually helpful because they may have their own agenda/ opinions. Counselling sessions occur without judgement, however, it is not possible to ensure that if you have friends or family in the session.

When you come for therapy, you may need to explore thoughts, behaviours and associated emotions that you may not have expressed before or that you feel ashamed or embarrassed about, therefore a confidential one-to-one space is essential to facilitate this.

Call 999 or go to your local accident and emergency department if someone's life is at risk – for example, they have seriously injured themselves or taken an overdose. Or if you don’t feel you can keep yourself or someone else safe.