Counselling and Psychotherapy
in Stanmore, Middlesex
Susan Freedman
BSc (Hons) PG Dip, MBACP (Accred.)
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About Counselling and Psychotherapy
Counselling and psychotherapy is a confidential, therapeutic space where the client is invited to think about his/her inner feelings together with the therapist. It is the client’s space to use as he/she wishes in the knowledge that he/she will be respected and not judged. The role of the therapist is to facilitate these thoughts and feelings and perhaps explore them more deeply or to think about any options. The role of therapy is not to give advice but to allow the client to find his/her own solutions.
As a counsellor and psychotherapist, I am interested in understanding your issues and difficulties and therefore we may well explore childhood relationships and experiences in order to make sense of the past and see if there are any repeated patterns of behaviour. We will also look at thoughts and feelings that emerge in the therapy room in the “here and now” to try to understand their origins. Once insight has been gained, change can take place.
Covid-19
I now offer offer sessions via telephone, or Teams, if you are unable to attend in person.
"Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit."
The Therapeutic Relationship
It is very important that a good therapeutic relationship develops between the client and therapist, so that the client feels safe and secure enough to bring to a session whatever he/she is feeling, however painful, and even if it is related to the therapist or the sessions. I therefore feel that for therapy to be effective the client and therapist must feel they are able to work together.
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness."
What is the difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy?
I am often asked what is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy. I believe these words could be interchangeable. However, counselling is more often akin to short term work, perhaps to help with a current difficulty such as a bereavement, stress at work, relationship problems or trauma.
Psychotherapy is more likely to involve more complex issues requiring long term work at a deeper level so that deep rooted feelings can evolve over time. It may be that a client is aware of painful feelings but does not understand where they are coming from, such as anger, anxiety, sadness, guilt, depression, unresolved conflict which may be the result of childhood experiences.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
CounsellingStanmore|Susan Freedman Counselling and Psychotherapy in North West London
- when life becomes overwhelming