Make the first step to improve your mental, physical and emotional health.

Contacting Belfast Counselling Group can help you bring about the changes needed to improve your mental, physical and emotional health. New clients are often convinced that their problems are insurmountable and that they cannot escape the treadmill of distress that they seem to be stuck on.

They may be unaware they could be depressed, they may not be able to sleep, they may have negative thoughts about themselves, the world and others. Often they have been involved in past traumas, accidents and/or negative life experiences all of which may be combining together to reinforce their negative thoughts and emotions resulting in them repeating negative behaviour patterns that keep those negative thoughts and beliefs going. It is this vicious circle of automatic negative thoughts that maintains their emotional distress bringing about negative physical symptoms and result in negative behaviour patterns that then reinforce their negative thoughts and beliefs.

The therapist will be using gentle probing questions to uncover and unravel the client’s life to see how and in what way their beliefs and thoughts about themselves and the world shape how they see life now, in the present, and what we can do in therapy to bring about the changes needed to get them back on track.

At the first session you can initially expect to be nervous and anxious as you will be revealing what has brought you to therapy in the first place but you will find the therapist will quickly put you at ease as you outline your difficulties and what you want from therapy. As therapists we can very quickly identify what specific condition  the client has just by listening carefully as they outline their problems and difficulties. Clients can then gain initial early relief that there are reasons why they feel the way they do and that they are not going mad and they are in the right place to get the help needed.

Therapy is offered in a safe confidential place offering the opportunity to think and talk about yourself with someone who will listen without judgement and who will help you make the changes you want. The therapist understands that it can be difficult to talk about your problems and to express feelings but will work with you towards improving your wellbeing and achieving your goals.

Therapy is a two-way process and the more effort that the therapist and client put into it, the better the results are likely to be. Therapy sessions are not cosy chats and take a lot of effort and commitment and you can expect to feel awkward and nervous at first. However this will lessen even in the first session and  you will feel less intimidated as time goes on.

Talking therapies require you to be completely honest with yourself and we will help you to face up to your fears. This can mean remembering and talking about distressing memories, intimate topics and private thoughts and feelings. We will agree behavioural experiments or homework, to do between sessions, such as trying out new ways of behaving or keeping a diary. Don’t skip these exercises. You’ll get better and quicker results if you complete them.

Research shows that over 28% of people in the UK have accessed or know someone who has had therapy. Therapy with a Belfast Counselling Group therapist does not involve long sessions continually going over the past. It is a here and now therapy process using the negative thoughts feelings and behaviours learned from past experiences and changing them so you can enjoy a satisfying and rewarding life.