The Challenge of Excellence

The Counsellor@ The Challenge of Excellence

How long will we work for and in what way?

Subsequent sessions After the initial consultation, sessions are face to face and typically of two hours duration. Usually you will meet with The Counsellor once per week and if possible on the same day each week. The Counsellor may also recommend a one or two day retreat to gain a more in depth and speedier perspective of the focus of the issues and to achieve a more intensive and practical or ‘experiential’ (learning by doing) approach. Should The Counsellor recommend a retreat for you, this will be discussed in more detail at that time so that you can decide if this approach is one you wish to take. For more information on ‘retreats’ please contact The Counsellor@

For how long, what topics, and in what way? Working with The Counsellor can be short term, specific and highly focused and for just a few sessions. For example the work may be based on decision making about a particular issue where a quick, solution-focused counselling/coaching approach to personal development is required, or the focus may be about overcoming negative patterns of behaviour caused by anxieties, fears or phobias in which case sessions may be more open ended. Cognitive and behavioural therapies work on the principle that a behaviour is a learned activity and therefore can be un-learned and new ones developed. It uses a more logical than analytical approach. This kind of therapy is known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT.

Or, the process may cover a mutually agreed range of deeper issues where the process begins with a focus on behavioural changes and then moves to a more psychoanalytic approach. This will help you to understand your fundamental belief systems and attitudes and how you acquired them. The process may include recalling childhood experiences or interpretation of dreams for example. The Counsellor will always share with you why she recommends exploring a particular issue that may not seem immediately apparent to you but that she believes will build up your understanding of yourself and the situation that is troubling you.

You’re in control Always the work involves the pursuit of a mutually respectful and equal relationship where you understand and feel in control of the process and can have the comfort level to be fully engaged with The Counsellor in the exploration of issues and setting of goals. The Counsellor’s aims for you are to ensure an environment that feels safe, a space where the ‘unspeakable’ can be spoken, where there is no judgment, and where warmth and even humour has its place.

Making Progress & Ending Counselling Attention is paid to regular review of progress to establish whether the focus of the work remains relevant or should shift; whether the desired for change is being achieved and sustained; whether it is time for counselling to end; whether there is a natural next step on which the client would like to focus further; whether both client and The Counsellor feel a break would be of benefit. When it is mutually agreed that the counselling should end, especially for longer term work, The Counsellor will usually recommend a period of time of about four weeks to bring both the counselling relationship and work to a conclusion. The ‘ending’ process is an important one and provides another toolkit of learning for the client to use in other settings where relevant. The Client Counsellor relationship is a tool for learning as much as other relationships in the client’s life.

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