Counselling provides a regular time and space for people to talk about their troubles and explore difficult feelings in an environment that is dependable, free from intrusion and confidential. Your counsellor will respect your viewpoint while helping you to deal with specific problems, cope with crises, improve your relationships, or develop better ways of living.

You may be thinking of counselling because of difficult experiences you’ve been going through, such as a relationship breakdown, bereavement or redundancy. Or you may want help dealing with feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety or low self-worth that don’t seem to be connected to any event.

Counselling can also help you overcome mental health problems, such as depression or an eating disorder, even if you are already getting other kinds of support from a GP or psychiatrist. It can also help you come to terms with an on-going physical problem, illness or disability.

If your GP can’t find a physical cause for your problems, you may want to look further to see whether there is a psychological side to your symptoms.

BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)

www.BACP.co.uk