Heather Colman Counselling. MBACP (Accred).

I am an experienced, compassionate therapeutic counsellor working with individuals aged 18 years and over.  I set up my private practice in 2012 and in that time I have successfully supported people through a wide range of difficulties, some of which include anxiety, low self esteem, low self confidence, depression, loss, trauma, abuse and relationship difficulties.

What Can Counselling Help With?

The reasons for seeking support are many, varied and personal to you.

• You may be feeling anxious, stressed or unable to cope in a particular situation or perhaps in many environments.
• You may have experienced loss and need help to process the feelings you are having.
• You may have experienced a trauma recently or in the past which is still having a negative effect on you.
• You may be aware that you are using unhealthy coping mechanisms to get you through each day.
• You may feel that your emotions are overwhelming and out of control and you find yourself crying, getting angry or hurting yourself and/or others.
• You may be questioning who you are or what you believe. You may be feeling that life could be different and more fulfilling.
• You may feel under pressure and not know how to deal with it.
• You may be in a relationship which is causing you difficulties.
• You may have learned to dislike yourself  and to self-sabotage
• You may be caring for someone else either at home or at work and feel the pressure is building.

Of course, you may not even be able to understand why you want support...but somehow know that you do!  There is no wrong reason for deciding to undertake therapy and I believe that if your situation is important to you, then it is.

My Approach to Supporting You

Each counselling session with me will give you the opportunity to explore anything which feels important to you in a confidential setting without fear of being judged.

I aim to help you to explore your feelings, emotions and behaviour and to support you to understand why you are feeling certain things or behaving in certain ways. I do this by understanding what you are experiencing from your perspective, without judgement and with genuine compassion.

To be completely heard and understood is therapeutic in itself but once you understand more about yourself and your experiences, you can then decide whether or not you want to make any changes...and if this is what you choose to do, then I will support you to achieve this.

What happens next?

If you feel I might be the right person to support you, I usually suggest that we have an initial appointment together.  This gives you ample opportunity to meet me, to ask me any questions and to experience a counselling session with me (I advise you allow up to 75 minutes for this initial meeting).  If after this, you decide you would like to work with me then we can arrange another appointment but you are under no obligation to do so.Subsequent sessions will normally be weekly or fortnightly and will last 60 minutes.

Appointments can be on a fixed day at the same time or, if this is difficult for you due to shift patterns or family commitments, I can work flexibly.  Evening and weekend appointments are available if you can't make daytime sessions.

If you have decided that you would like to find out more, then please do contact me and I will try to answer any questions you may have.