The most common reasons

people seek counselling:

• Relationship breakdown
• Grief/bereavement
• Lack of motivation, feeling lost confused or unworthy
• Low self -esteem or lack of confidence
• Coping with effects of past bullying or current bullying
• General anxiety stress or depression

General Counselling vs Therapeutic counselling

There are generally 2 categories of the different modalities of counselling and therapy: behavioural or psychodynamic.

Behavioural = short term approaches for a specific problem addressing your behaviour and patterns of thinking relating to that particular issue. General counselling is generally solutions focused and looking forward, short term and uses behavioural approaches eg: CBT or DBT. Art Therapy and Life Coaching take a similar approach.

The Psychodynamic approach goes further into your personality, ways that you individually operate and looks at your  family history since birth, with the aim of getting to the foundational causes of emotional problems eg ingrained subconscious beliefs created by trauma. TRTP, Somatic Therapies and Therapeutic Counselling use the Psychodynamic approach.

Therapeutic counselling acknowledges that we cannot always look forward and set goals and improve our situation if we don’t properly review the past and untangle unhealthy patterns which may have started early in life.

Techniques from both approaches can also used together within  therapeutic (holistic/fusion) counselling.  For more information on psychotherapy approaches, read our blog.

Therapeutic Coaching is also available for people willing to face and heal deeper issues that may come up during the coaching process, for example, shifting certain stubborn core beliefs that keep sabotaging success.

What type of counsellor do you want to interact with?

The quality of your relationship with your professional therapist/ counsellor is just as important as the type of therapy or counselling your are receiving.

It’s important that you are matched with the right counsellor for you who also has not only empathy for your situation but also:
• has the experience or ability to understand worldly issues that affect individuals;
• has active listening skills without any type of judgement;
• is trustworthy and maintains confidentiality and professionalism;
• has the ability to guide and support you;
• has the ability to also challenge beliefs about yourself that may be false and damaging, in order to benefit your growth, and has the ability to stay unbiased and impartial and calm at the same time; and
• has the ability to help you feel in a “safe” place to allow you to express yourself.

Book a zoom counselling session 

Not sure whether to book an online therapy or counselling session? Maria offers a complimentary (free) introduction phone call so that you can decide if it is the right fit before any counselling starts.

So if you would like to first explore the type of service that is appropriate for you (whether it is counselling, specialist therapy or coaching) you can make an appointment to connect by phone.

Maria will usually spend 20 -30 minutes with you (or sometimes longer) for the introductory call so she can start to get to know you and recommend which therapeutic approach is best suited for your personal situation.

Maria also has a contact base of hundreds of therapists counsellors and psychologists for any specialized treatments or mental health diagnosis or treatment in case you also need a referral for other services.