Tom Abbott - MA DipHIC MBACP Registered

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”

- Albert Camus

In these truly testing times, where our contact with loved ones has become increasingly limited, we are having to draw, ever more, on what is within. Whilst the world appears to buckle around us, disorientation has become the norm. However, where there is unrest, there is opportunity. Counselling can be that bridge to stability and peace within, and a life fully lived.

I feel that counselling becomes a catalyst for change when you are being truly heard.

I am here to listen.

I provide a space for you to start looking at the reasons and root causes of the issues that have brought you to counselling in the first place. It might be the loss of a loved one, the breakdown of a relationship, a tendency towards self-destruction, a short or long history of depression, a rising anxiety, that brings you into counselling. It may even be a simple curiosity, a wish to understand yourself better. In any case, and for whatever reason, counselling aspires to help guide you through by providing a safe and confidential space from which to do so.

As a counsellor, my aim is to help shine a light on your past, perhaps on areas that have been in the dark for too long, so that we can experience how your present is impacted by your past, and consequently make the necessary adjustments. My role involves a creativity that endeavours to assist you in coming to terms with your story, feeling more autonomous in the choices you make, and ultimately more empowered.

I am here to help in your process of coming to terms with things, so that you can start to live a fuller life; more aware, more alert, and more alive.

“Sometimes, all you need is permission to feel. Sometimes, what causes the most pain is actually the attempt to resist feeling, or the shame that grows up like thorns around it.”

- Olivia Laing, The Lonely City