INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
WITH CHRIS
Time to think and talk with an experienced counsellor
The ideal opportunity to put aside quality time to focus on you and your life. You really can talk about anything, be taken seriously, and be supported through you current concerns.
The counselling and psychotherapy used at Kendal Therapy offers a gently robust approach to life's most difficult and perplexing issues, as well as your everyday concerns.
If you would like to read more about counselling and psychotherapy before you get in touch, you will find a good overview of the topic here and you can follow the links for further information.
If you are in crisis right now and just need to get started, you may prefer to simply get in touch straight away and revisit these pages at a later date.
£55.00 (per one hour session)
Reduced fees may be negotiated for short-term work.
3 THINGS TO EXPECT IN INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
1 YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING
The aim of counselling and therapy is to provide you with a confidential opportunity for you to explore your issues, thoughts and feelings in safety in order to assist your learning, healing, understanding and growth.
My role is to help you through the counselling process without judgement, or telling you what to do. You really can talk about anything. People bring a wide variety of issues that they are facing in their lives right now. These include topics such as depression, anxiety, relationship problems, assertiveness, death and dying, confidence, existential angst, work relationships, mental health issues, sexual issues, ect. and a whole range of human emotions that can come with these issues.
2 WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FIRST SESSION?
In the first session I will explore with you your current issues, inquire about background history and establish the focus of counselling. It's your opportunity to ask anything about counselling or about me to help you to make sure of a good match for your needs. We would briefly discuss our Counselling Working Agreement, which includes: boundaries, confidentiality, fees and an agreed way of working.
Once all this is discussed and decided, we work together on your topics and have regular reviews to ensure the effectiveness of the counselling.
3 HOW DOES THE COUNSELLING PROCESS WORK AND HOW CAN IT HELP?
The counselling process from beginning to end is firmly rooted in the counsellor offering the relational conditions that are best suited to nurturing psychological growth. Once these conditions are experienced, a person is more likely to be able to explore their issues and take forward their personal development at a pace that suits them.
Counselling helps by offering a chance to tackle the here-and-now issues. It often (but not always) includes developing a better understanding of issues from the past, working through current patterns and concerns to improve the likelihood of a better future.
ISSUES PEOPLE BRING TO COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
There are common labels that people use or are given to help communicate a range of symptoms e.g. stress, anxiety, relationship problems, anger-management, depression and sexual problems, but of course everyone will experience these differently, so although Kendal Therapy understands these issues generally and their common themes, it is the aim of a therapist to understand the person's thoughts and feelings, and often several issues will be present at the same time.
This list is not comprehensive, so please get in touch with your specific requirements to see if Kendal Therapy is able to help. Examples of psychological and emotional distress are:
Depression - Abuse - Anxiety - Relationship Problems - Nero-diversity - Anger Management - Bereavement - Different Realities - Misophonia - Low Self-Esteem - PTSD - Panic Disorder - Phobias - Sexuality Issues - Sexual Issues - Self-Development - Self-Injury - Stress Management - Trauma - Work & Career Issues - Sleep Problems - Spiritual Development - Personality disorders, Uncommon Issues - Others...
ABOUT PERSON CENTRED COUNSELLING
A way of helping people in troubling times
As a person centred counsellor I listen very carefully to what you say. I aim to step into your shoes and see the world from your point of view, how you experience your life and any issues you bring, as you see them. I wholeheartedly believe in the positive nature of all human beings and that we are always striving to do the best for ourselves. I believe in the uniqueness and worth of every individual and that everyone deserves respect to choose their own way through life. I recognise that you are the only expert in your own internal world, and the only person who really knows how you feel.
Often, the most important thing in counselling is the therapeutic relationship that will develop between us, in which I hope that you will really feel heard and understood, in a non-judgemental way, and that you will experience me as a real and genuine person in this relationship. I hope that you will receive all these conditions from me so that you will be able to deal more effectively with the feelings that are troubling you enough to seek out a counsellor.
ENHANCING INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
Sometimes, and when appropriate, counselling can be enriched further in fascinating ways...
OUTDOOR COUNSELLING
I have connected my work to the outdoor environment throughout my life. There is something special about having counselling outdoors. If you think this sounds appropriate for you and what you are bringing to counselling, find out more on here and discuss with Chris in session, its fairly straightforward to plan working outdoors.
CREATIVE ARTS IN COUNSELLING
Working with a range of creative arts techniques can really help people deepen the therapeutic process and help enhance the outcomes of standard counselling.If you think this sounds appropriate for you and what you are bringing to counselling, find out more on here and discuss with Chris.
PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY IN COUNSELLING
You are welcome to explore your personality, who you are, and who you would like to become. The person centred approach has its own theory of personality, but I also really like using Jungian personality theory and the Myers Briggs personality test (MBTI) and the more modern 'The Big Five'. Whatever speaks to you, we can use in counselling, even a fun online test such as 'Which Harry Potter character are you' can be surprisingly useful (or your film of choice).
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN COUNSELLING
You are welcome to explore religion, spirituality and existentialism in counselling. I have had life long interest and specialist additional training in facilitating spiritual and existential development for those interested in exploring these areas in counselling, within the person centred framework. If you think this sounds appropriate for you and what you are bringing to counselling, find out more on here and discuss with Chris.