about counselling

It would be helpful for you to read through the following as it is a preparation for what you can expect from counselling with me.

What can one-to-one counselling provide for you?

• Someone to listen to you in a non-judgmental way.
• An honest, open and confidential professional relationship.
• Someone to unravel the confusion you might be feeling.
• Reassurance that your feelings are a natural part of your experience.
• Someone to stand alongside you and support you in your sadness, anxiety or anger.
• Someone to help you feel valued.
• Someone who will work alongside you at a pace that is comfortable for you.
• Someone to ask you what it is you would like to achieve.
• Suggestions about how you might be able to achieve this.
• Strategies to help you manage the pain, disappointments and rejections in life that we all experience.
• Greater self-confidence and assertiveness skills.
• Greater self-awareness and insight into your potential.

What else do you need to take into account about counselling?

• Make sure that you choose the person and the model of counselling that feels most appropriate for your needs.
• The first session is an open discussion at the end of which the Counsellor will tell you whether he or she is able to help you. Occasionally you may be referred to an alternative professional with specific experience of your needs.
• You have to want to engage in this process and to be prepared to make changes.
• Counselling will not give you the ability to change someone else. We can only change ourselves.
• Self-reflection is an integral part of this process. This may involve acceptance of your part in what has gone wrong in your life which is an essential element of enabling you to move forward.
• The Counsellor’s task is to clarify your alternatives but, ultimately, you decide what you want to do.
• You are paying the Counsellor for his/her time. Getting best value from this may involve doing self-reflection work and perhaps trying out new responses between sessions. This way, you will get best value for your money.

CONTACT ME

• Telephone: 01245 353939
• Email: cathy@cathyjmatthews.co.uk
• Location: close to the centre of Chelmsford
  • on a bus route
  • 1 free parking space available.

Please contact me for further enquiries or to arrange an appointment.

Appointments can be arranged at a time and date to suit you.

FEES

Fees are £40.00 per hour.

Please note that concessions can be made - these are dealt with on an individual basis and following discussion.