Abuse either from your partner, child, parent, other family member or work colleague can be a terrifying, confusing and isolating experience that can have long term effects on your self esteem and confidence. Whether it be physical violence, sexual abuse or mental abuse you are suffering or a combination of all three, you may feel that it is somehow your fault or even that the situation will get better one day.

You are not alone, millions of men, women and children suffer abuse on a daily basis and many feel therapist gives you the safe environment to talk about what you are going through and to explore ways to deal with the abuse.

If you feel that you are in immediate danger, then please dial 999 and ask for police support, removing yourself and if applicable, your children from the situation at the earliest opportunity.

For further advice and help, please see the contacts on the links page.

Addictions can take many forms, from a dependency on cocaine or alcohol, shopping or unhealthy food. For the addict, the object of their addiction takes on more and more importance in their life and family, work and friendships may suffer as a consequence. Often an addiction results in financial hardship through funding the habit or through being unable to work as a result of the addiction.

Counselling, as well as providing emotional support, helps you to understand why you became addicted and through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, looks at coping strategies that you can develop to help you stop the negative patterns of addiction.

It is natural for us all to feel angry at some point in our lives, however, uncontrollable anger that has detrimental effects on you or others around needs to be addressed.

Through counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the underlying cause of the anger can be identified and negative thought patterns and unhelpful responses can be addressed. Anger can sometimes be caused by a lack of confidence or low self esteem and this can also be worked on along with communication, relaxation and assertiveness skills.

Anxiety and stress can manifest itself in many forms and while stress in itself is not bad for us – in fact it keeps us motivated – high and prolonged levels of stress and anxiety can have an impact on both our physical and mental health.

Counselling helps you look at the way in which you perceive yourself, others around you and events that happen and encourages you to explore a more helpful and supportive way of being. Although therapy cannot prevent stressful situations arising in your life, it can help to change the way you perceive situations, thus resulting in lower stress and anxiety levels.

Sufferers of BDD believe that either a part of, or in some cases the whole of their body is disfigured in some way when there is no apparent cause for this belief. This condition can be crippling to the sufferer in that it affects their everyday life with constant mirror checking, rituals, withdrawing from society, family and friends. This condition is not a form of vanity, as the sufferer genuinely believes he or she is disfigured to some degree, a belief which is confirmed when they look in the mirror and see what they perceive as ‘ugly’.

Counselling, as well as providing emotional support and a safe space to explore your feelings and experiences also, through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy assists the client in overcoming the negative and obtrusive thoughts.

All of us, at some point in our lives have to experience the death of a friend, relative or partner, and , the feelings of isolation and pain can be overwhelming. Many people feel awkward when talking to someone who is grieving and just don’t know what to say. Sometimes the bereaved person may be reluctant to talk to those closest to them for fear of upsetting them further. For these reasons and many more, grieving can be a difficult process to go through on your own.

Counselling offers a calm, empathic space where you can talk freely about your grief and the person who has passed away without fear of causing pain to anyone. The sessions move at your pace and gently explore the different aspects of the grieving process whilst providing emotional support.

Debt affects millions of people in the UK and can have far reaching effects in other aspects of your life – relationships, work, family and friendships, self esteem.

Counselling can help you look at the spending habits that you currently have and find new solutions to your existing debt problems. It also looks at the reasons for your spending habits and through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, helps you to overcome negative habits and thought patterns related to your spending.

Depression affects many people in the UK today and is responsible for millions of working hours lost each year, in fact, soon it will be the number one reason people take time off from work.

Depression can result in feelings of worthlessness, lack of motivation, weepiness, lethargy, sleep disturbances, appetite disturbances and low self esteem. These feelings can range from very mild to very severe and depression can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, social status, education, outlook, religious beliefs or race.

Initially, depression needs to be diagnosed by your GP who can then offer you, either anti-depressants, counselling or a combination of them both. Counselling with a qualified therapist can be very effective when used in conjunction with medical help from your GP and many surgeries offer in-house counselling appointments on the NHS, however waiting lists can be long at some surgeries.

Counselling gives you a safe and calm environment where you can explore your feelings and emotions and look at ways to move forwards through this period in your life. It aims to allow you to get to know yourself better and look at your behaviour and thinking patterns and how you interact with those around you. The counselling also tackles issues of confidence and low self esteem which can contribute to the depressive state.

In extreme cases, depression can lead to thoughts of self harm or suicide. If you are experiencing thoughts of this nature, please dial 999 and ask for the ambulance service.

People often have times during their lives where they feel that circumstances are out of their control or that they have lost direction. You may have experienced an event in your life which has led you to question yourself and find that the answers are nowhere to be found or it could be a general feeling of unhappiness. Whatever the situation is, counselling can help you explore your feelings in a safe and non-judgemental atmosphere, look at your life with a new perspective and help identify barriers that are holding you back from fulfilling your potential either in your personal or professional life.

Low self esteem is a state of mind that can affect anyone at any time in their life. It can be brought on by life events, that job that you were turned down for or by negative, persistent thoughts that you have about yourself. Counselling, together with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help you look at these thought processes and ‘weed out’ the unhelpful and irrational thoughts and replace them with helpful, positive statements about yourself and your outlook on life, changing the level of your self esteem into a healthy one.

This is a complex form of depression which is diagnosed usually by a psychiatrist. People with manic depression live with periods of depressiveness which are punctuated by episodes of mania. During the depressive period, the sufferer will feel lethargic, hopeless, weepy, isolated, and unmotivated with a very low mood, sometimes with feelings of self harm or suicide. When a manic episode occurs, their mood will change dramatically leading to unusual levels of activity, sleep disturbance, appetite disturbance and feelings of invincibility. They may also experience ideas or take risks which they would not normally consider. Time spent in each end of the spectrum may differ considerably as may the severity of the symptoms felt by each individual and a period of ‘normality’ can be experienced between the depressive and manic states, usually with the sufferer experiencing a ‘crash’ which brings him or her back to the depressive state and so completing the circle.

Counselling can provide emotional support for people living with manic depression and help them form coping strategies for both the manic and depressive states.

This is a behavioural disorder which affects many people living in the modern world today and has far reaching effects throughout the sufferer’s life. People who experience OCD often go through rigorous checking rituals or patterns of behaviour in order to prevent harm coming to either themselves or others around them, or some other disastrous event. These rituals can range from arranging things in a particular order to constant and severe checking which takes up all of the sufferer’s time.

Medication from your GP which is specifically aimed at treating this disorder is available nowadays together with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which looks at the thinking processes behind the behaviour and aims to gradually reduce the levels of compulsive actions gradually until the behaviour has ceased.

Support, through counselling is also available to those who are living with someone who has OCD.

Panic attacks are frightening and can have terrifying effects for those who experience them. They can range from a mild feeling of panic, to a feeling that is described as similar to a heart attack with real, physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath and chest pain. For some, panic attacks are brought on by a particular place, event or person, for others, there is no discernable pattern to when they strike.

Counselling, in conjunction with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aims to identify the trigger factors that cause the panic attack along with any unresolved issues that may be contributing to this and then target the panic attack itself with effective behavioural exercises that have worked for many other sufferers. It aims to put you, the person at the mercy of these panic attacks back in control of the situation and your body so improving your confidence in your ability to deal with the attacks effectively and your self esteem.

IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY UNDIAGNOSED CHEST PAIN OR OTHER SYMPTOMS MENTIONED ABOVE, PLEASE SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION.

Not all women experience that rush of joy and maternal instinct when they find that they are pregnant, for some the feelings that follow can be isolating and full of despair. Even pregnancies that are planned and hoped for can lead to antenatal depression and it is more common than you think.

Some women can experience post natal depression following the birth of their child and while this is more publicised, is no easier to live through.

Talking to a qualified counsellor who has experience of this type of depression can help you see a way through the coming months and gives you the space to talk through your feelings in an accepting, non-judgmental atmosphere.

Whether you are experiencing difficulties in your relationship and are seeking help and guidance through counselling or whether you are single and want to look at the patterns that are repeating through your past relationships, then counselling can be a way forward.

Every relationship can run into difficulties, no matter how long you have been together and when communication breaks down, it can be difficult to see a way forwards for you both.

Using counselling techniques to explore each other’s points of view and perspectives on a situation, in conjunction with communication exercises to get you talking to each other in a loving and respectful way, counselling gives you the opportunity to work through your issues.

While it is inevitable that we will all die, rarely are we prepared for facing our own death when it is imminent. People who are diagnosed with a terminal illness often face specific issues regarding relationships, spiritual matters and organising their wishes for after their death. Sometimes it can also be difficult to talk about the matters that you want and need to with loved ones for fear of upsetting them further, it can sometimes be the case that relatives feel that by speaking of death that it will hasten the passing or make it all too real and then too difficult to cope with.

By having the space and time to talk to a qualified, empathic counsellor, you are able to voice your fears and concerns which can bring some comfort at this time of your life.

p>For some people who experience trauma in their lives, the repercussions can live on day after day through their thoughts or dreams. People can experience panic attacks or anxiety as a result of the initial trauma, causing them further distress long after the event has passed.

Counselling with a qualified therapist can help with the emotional and mental recovery from trauma, helping the sufferer to overcome the debilitating effects of the distress they are experiencing.