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What is Person-centred Counselling?
Person centred counselling works on the premise that we all know what we want and need from life, we have an internal drive that guides us towards being the best version of ourselves. However, our experiences in life cause blocks in us being able to connect to and work towards that version of ourselves. These blocks may be in the form of coping mechanisms we’ve developed, societal pressures, or the expectations of those around.
All of these can start to change our behaviour and mould us into a version of ourselves that we don’t necessarily connect to, identify with or want to be. This can lead to feelings of confusion, internal conflict, feeling disconnected from yourself, feeling lost or stuck. Often these feelings are the driving force that lead someone to seek out counselling, or some form of help.
Person-centred therapy is client led. This means that you lead the session, you're in control of the direction, pace and content of the sessions. This is a humanistic approach to counselling, we work with the emotions that are present in the here and now, and what you bring to the session.
Person-centred counselling relies on the development of a strong therapeutic bond/relationship between the counsellor and the client. This can take time to build and establish, it's important to know what you can expect from me as your therapist, as well as the role you play in the process.
How will our sessions work?
As person-centred therapy is client led, there isn't a set structure or format of sessions; every client is unique and therefore every session is unique. This doesn't mean you need to pre-plan sessions, quite often a client will start talking and will naturally go to what is causing them the most issues/difficulty.
There isn't homework, journals or set exercises that have to be followed.
Part of our work will be focused on the topics, issues or emotions that you bring to the session. I will facilitate you in exploring these. Our work may also result in bringing issues from the subconscious, into the conscious. All of this will enable you to better know, understand and connect with yourself.
Although the over-arching theory and approach will be the same with each client, I endeavour to build a unique relationship with each of my clients, finding a way of working that feels comfortable and right for us both.
Therefore, I believe that honesty is required from both counsellor and client, and this is something I encourage from the start of our journey together. As we continue to work together, I would hope that you build trust in me, yourself and the process, enabling you to feel safe and empowered to address more difficult issues.
" If you cannot fly, then run,
If you cannot run, then walk,
If you cannot walk, then crawl,
But whatever you do... keep moving forward "
Martin Luther King
What is the role of the counsellor?
What is the role of the client?
As stated above, the client leads the session and is expected to bring content to the session that they wish to discuss.
I encourage you to be honest within our sessions; with me as your counsellor and with yourself. Reflection and self-awareness will greatly help your therapeutic journey and are areas that can be developed.
I encourage bravery to deal with challenging and difficult content as we develop our therapeutic relationship and connection.
I would expect an amount of commitment to therapy sessions in terms of punctuality and attendance, more details on this are outlined in my working agreement, should you wish to proceed.
It's important to consider whether this way of working feels right for you. Not every style of counselling will resonate with every client, some people connect and work better with different theories or approaches, this is normal. Person-centred is a talking therapy and relies on you doing 70% of the talking and being open with what you bring and share.
"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply"
Dr Stephen Colvey
How Can Counselling help?
One of the most powerful aspects of counselling, is the power of being truly heard; not just listened to. Not to have someone listen while forming their own reply, thinking of how it impacts them or judging what you're sharing, but to just listen and accept you as a whole.
In order to truly hear what you're sharing I will listen to your tone, to your choice of words, to your body language and to what's not being said. All of these aspects allow me to truly hear what you're communicating, not just what you're saying.
Another way that counselling can help, is to know that the person you're talking to is objective, they don't know you and are in no way connected to what you're sharing. This can provide a space to share honest thoughts and feelings without fear of judgement and repercussion.
Clients have also shared with me that having a time and space dedicated to them, is largely beneficial. A space where they can think, talk and share. Just forming their own thoughts and hearing their own words can be enlightening to them, as they're usually so busy with work and life, or looking after others, that they don't check in with themselves. Counselling provides them that space and time, in a supportive environment.
Areas/Issues I work with
General life issues, including:
Work Stresses and Issues
Family Issues
Relationship Problems (Not couples counselling)
Common Mental Health Problems
Loss and Change
Carer Support
Older people Counselling
Feeling Lonely
Feeling lost
and more.
If you have a specific area you want to discuss that isn't mentioned above, please contact me and enquire as it may still be an area I can work with.
Bereavement Support:
I have been volunteering for Cruse Bereavement Support for over 2 years and have completed their advance foundation course on working with bereavement, in addition to my counselling training.
I still work with bereavement in the person-centred modality, but have specific training and knowledge on bereavement theories, complicated grief, the impact of traumatic loss and ways of working with different types of loss.
Each death is experienced differently by us, as each person means something different to us, meaning each bereavement impacts us differently, no 2 losses are the same.
Death is still a taboo subject in society and can therefore be difficult to find a source of support, even from family and friends. Quite often you're left trying to manage the emotions of others, rather than get help or support for yourself. Therefore, I provide a space where you can talk freely about death, loss and bereavement.
Important: I am not an emergency service and do not offer out of session crisis support. If you feel you need support or are in crisis, please contact your GP, NHS 111 or the Samaritans on 116 123.
If it is an emergency please call 999.
Quintessentially You by Emma Quinn.
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