Perhaps you are reading this because you are thinking about whether you should go and see a counsellor. Maybe you are not feeling happy or you know there are things in your life that you want to change. Possibly it is a struggle to take that first step to pick up the phone to a therapist or to send off that email to a counsellor you have found online. It can be scary to contact a stranger to set up meetings where you are going to come in to talk about yourself and what troubles you.

Yet thousands of people are doing it all the time and getting the results they want. With their counsellors they are making really useful changes that transform their lives and how they feel.

Since the 1930's, research has shown that all properly carried out models of therapy can work and get similar results. But I would like to shed some light on the counselling experience by sharing with you how clients themselves view counselling and what it is like to take part in it.

I carried out research for my doctorate that looked at the client's experience of receiving counselling. The clients I interviewed said that for them effective counselling means having a skilled, accepting counsellor to attentively listen to them in a safe environment where they can feel free to talk about their situation and how they feel about it. The clients considered that effective therapy is a learning process where they can find out the reasons for why they are the way they are, learn new skills to manage their difficulties, which helps them to feel stronger and to gain some control over their lives.

If this sounds like something that would be useful to you then come and try it. Pick up the phone, or send that email today.