What is counselling?

Counselling is a safe, off the record, friendly and positive approach to personal development but backed by a strict confidential approach which is essential in a therapeutic relationship as part of building trust.  This is also the priority of the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy to which Elena Burrows adheres.

Counselling takes place when a client is seen in a safe environment to explore a difficulty that they are having.  They may be experiencing distress, or perhaps the loss of direction and purpose in their life.

Counselling can and may take many different formats to bring a person to better understanding of themselves and others which may be of benefit to someone experiencing problems in finding, forming and maintaining relationships.

Therefore it is not about giving advice, it is more of a liberating and empowering experience from a process which at the beginning can be painful as perhaps the client will be discovering some uncomfortable or previously unidentified feelings.

Counselling may take time to work dependent on the nature and number of problems presented.  In some cases, a single session is all that is required, or in other

circumstances it could take a month to even a few years to assist the client in their development and balanced well-being.

Mindfulness, Gestalt and Creative Therapy     Mindfulness is a technique for promoting a redirection of mind towards a positive way of being.  In mindfulness meditation, it is essential to be open to the here and now moment of one's experience.  What is happening at that moment; emotions, feelings, thoughts or physical discomfort or pleasure.  In mindfulness meditation, the mind is able to wander from one object to another without judgement and preferences.  "Notice whatever predominates in awareness, moment to moment.  Here the intention is not to choose a single object of focus, but rather to explore changing experience". (Kabat Zinn 2009)

Gestalt therapy is expressive therapy, focusing on what is happening in the movement, the process: How the client is moving, breathing, feeling, touching rather than content that had been discussed between client and therapist.

Creative therapy is a form of counselling that uses play to communicate with and help people to prevent or resolve psychological challenges.  Creative therapy is used with children but also applied with other pre-verbal, non-verbal, or verbally-impaired persons, such as slow learners, or brain-injured or drug-affected persons.

Depression

Anxiety

Stress

Bereavement

Coping with redundancy/changes

Low self confidence or esteem

Anger

Physical, emotional, verbal or sexual abuse

Suicidal feelings, self harm

Panic attacks

Bullying

Shame

Eating disorders