Couples Counselling
Nicola Gadsby
As a couples counsellor I think it is important that each of you feels they are being listened to, by me, and by each other. We will explore why you have come for counselling, and work out together the main areas you would like to cover in our sessions. This may include looking at issues such as communication, conflict, trust, sexual difficulties, affairs, and domestic violence. I aim to help you to be honest with each other about your needs and expectations, and to negotiate how you might each work to improve your relationship. We may identify that a certain pattern of behaviour occurs between you, and we can think about how this pattern affects how you engage with each other. It may be influenced by experiences that you’ve each had in your past. Understanding this can help you to see how you can reduce the impact of the past on your current relationship.
How will we work together?
Couples counselling tends to be fairly short-term, typically lasting around 12 weeks, but I have a flexible approach, and we can discuss this in our first session. I find it can be helpful to agree to meet for a set number of weeks, perhaps four or five, at which point we can all review the situation to see how things are going.
About Nicola
Nicola has a diploma in psychodynamic counselling, and also trained at Relate as a couples counsellor, where she currently works part-time. She has worked for two of the largest providers of counselling services in the county for several years, gaining experience with a wide range of clients with many different issues. She is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and as such adheres to the BACP ethical framework. This means you can be confident that Nicola abides by a strict code of confidentiality, that she undertakes regular ongoing training and is appropriately supervised.
