News

Fear of the unknown

Someone asked me yesterday if I was nervous about setting up my practice. In the moment I said that I was excited to get started. However, I’ve been thinking about the answer that my brain came up with in an instant. Actually, I am nervous and afraid. There is a lot of uncertainty and unknowns; will anyone see my website or advertising, will any clients come and will I get enough clients to make my practice successful.

It feels like a leap of faith…yet is it? I’ve trained for years, I’ve investigated the options of how to set up, I’ve thought about marketing and worked out how I’m going to do it. There is a massive range of complex emotions happening unconsciously all the time whilst my brain silently figures all of this out.

My thoughts then turn to my potential clients and how worrying it could be to think about contacting me for counselling to share the difficulties that you are experiencing. You don’t know me and perhaps you’ve never had counselling before. You are already under pressure from something else in your life. Which brings me to the reason for this post. If you contact me I understand that you may feel nervous, worried, anxious, scared, apprehensive or afraid..and that’s ok, I do too sometimes. It’s natural to fear the unknown – you have to let your brain work out whether the benefits of facing that fear are greater than the fear itself…I hope that you decide that they are.

About the rooms and how to find me

Head towards the Old Sarum Park and Ride site. Follow the signs for the Castlegate Business Park. Serenity Place is in the far corner of the business park. This video shows the route in. Ground floor toilet and waiting room

Parking just outside building

Bus service – Old Sarum Park & Ride a few minutes away

Grey Room – accessible space on ground floor

Teal Room – first floor

How do I know if my counsellor is right for me?

In my experience, the most important element in counselling is whether my client can trust me enough to tell me what is bothering them.

For some clients, they decide to trust me from the beginning, for others it takes time to develop.

The first counselling session is all about me finding out what my client wants to work through and setting out how I do counselling. It may be that the client has an issue that I do not specialise in, or that the client doesn’t like the room that I’m in (or me).

After the first session I will always ask my client if they want to go away and have a think about whether they want to work with me. I would also tell them if I couldn’t help them, and try to recommend someone who could.

Whether we decide to work together or not, this clear communication provides the building blocks for establishing trust between us.

Are you having difficulties with…?

Low mood

Stress; including work, family, exams, school, friends, university, the future

Health problems, including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME and brain injury/stroke/concussion, impact on the individual or family members

Parenting

Caring for relatives

Loss and grief

Anxiety

Depression

Feeling stuck

Relationship problems

Loneliness

Financial difficulties

Suicidal thoughts

I have helped others by allowing them time and space to explore their difficulties in a safe, quiet space. Counselling involves me inviting you to explain what is going on for you, listening carefully and sometimes offering a different perspective.