How I work
A successful counselling relationship is built on mutual honesty, trust and genuineness with you experiencing me as being completely empathetic, congruent and authentic. You bring your own knowledge and experience of yourself and my role is to be alongside you on your journey, listening, reflecting, tentatively challenging you which then can provide a fresh perspective on finding a way through the issue/problem you have. I believe that it is our relationships and our experiences within these, from our childhood to the present day that shape and influence who we are. I am committed to helping you make sense of the impact your childhood experience is having in your present life and relationships and to help you navigate a way through this that feels right for you. Supporting you to feel able to speak your own truth, have your feelings and thoughts listened to and heard without any judgment, bias or criticism leads you to feeling more empowered and able to recognise for yourself your own inner strength, wisdom and resilience.
I work on an open-ended basis with the aim of enabling you to unburden yourself from the issues that have affected your daily life, enabling you to live your life to it`s full potential. As your counsellor/therapist, I will be alongside you offering the empathy, kindness and compassion you so deserve and need. As an objective listener, I can offer a perspective that you may not have even contemplated before, helping you to gain more clarity and understanding of the situation/issue that is causing you distress and to see more clearly the choices you have. I believe my ability and willingness to truly focus on you, paying particular attention to the meaning of your chosen words, facial expressions and body language gives you a very real feeling of value and importance and how your feelings do matter and need to be acknowledged fully. One thing I will never do is tell you what to do. Together we uncover what your realistic choices are if there is one to be made. I regard our counselling relationship as sacred, honouring, and of utmost importance to me.
I offer both short and long-term therapy depending on individual needs, but it is up to you how long you wish to continue counselling. I regularly do a review with you so that we can assess how you are experiencing our sessions, checking that you are getting what you need, with the aim of keeping our work together focused on the outcomes and goals that you want to achieve.
Whatever your reason for coming to counselling you can expect to receive respect, encouragement, support, understanding and my undivided attention. I feel humbled and very blessed to be a person whom others share their deepest and most personal truth with.
I am experienced in helping clients who have experienced difficulties with :
Anger, Low Self-Esteem
Anxiety, Loneliness
Bereavement, Panic Attacks
Bullying, Relationship Problems
Cancer, Redundancy
Depression, Shame
Disability, Self harm
Divorce, Stress
Friendship Issues, Trauma
Guilt,
Isolation,
Teenage children transitioning.
Having acknowledged you need help, finding the right counsellor is a very important and brave step to take. Similar to any other relationship the counsellor and client need to connect with each other. During our initial session we will discuss the particular issues that have bought you to counselling at this time, and your expectations of what you would like to gain from our sessions together. This initial meeting will give us both a sense of whether or not you feel comfortable enough to engage in this process, and in particular to engage in this process with me. At the end of that initial session we will discuss whether you feel that therapy is right for you at this time, and if so, then we will book another session in at a mutually convenient time.
You can find out about my Qualifications here, or some Frequently Asked Questions or if you have any questions at all, please get in touch by calling me on 07800 512 918 or emailing lauraprtsmth@gmail.com
"There are only two ways your life can improve...either everyone changes how they treat you, or YOU change how you react to them". James R.Quinn
