Counselling Support for Depression can be incredibly useful if you are feeling depressed and finding yourself stuck in your depression. We have a blog – Dealing with Depression & Accessing Counselling, which explores what depression is, its signs, symptoms, causes and ways that you can support yourself. This blog has lots of useful links to online resources and support. The NHS Website also has some useful information and signposts – NHS – Depression

Sometimes though you might feel that you need more than self-help, you might want to talk to a professional about how you are feeling and get expert support in managing your depression. You might be wondering how this might work and how counselling can really help you deal with your depression or get rid of it.

I am feeling Depressed what will counselling offer me?

• A space where you can talk about how you feel to someone who will listen to you and not judge you. You will be encouraged to explore and accept how you feel.
• If there is a particular incident or experience that you have had that has led to your depression the counsellor will help you to explore and process it, to understand the impact it has had on you.
• A counsellor will help you to consider how you might help yourself with your depression, what practical things could you do to take care of yourself. The counsellor may also give suggestions and ideas.
• A counsellor will help you to challenge your thinking. Sometimes the counsellor might challenge you directly. They will help you to be mindful of your thinking and to challenge thoughts that aren’t true and that are making you feel worse.
• Acceptance – counselling will provide a place of acceptance for how you feel and who you are, often the more judgemental you are of yourself or a situation the harder it is to deal with and the more entrenched and stuck you can feel. Please see our blog Self Compassion – Fostering and Practice 

Paul is a counsellor and psychotherapist. He works with clients using different approaches including a person centred model Gestalt model, CBT, Solution Focussed and EMDR. Working in an integrated way, means that he can use any of the above models to support the client in the work that needs to be done, as you work with Paul around your depression he might use different models at different times, depending on what support you need. To find out more about Paul and his training please look at the About Paul Page

It is really important for you to find the right counsellor in order for you to build a trusting relationship in a safe and confidential environment. If you are still unsure about how counselling might help you with your depression you might want to speak to Paul to discuss it further, Paul offers each client the opportunity to speak with him first in an initial phone call to ensure that he is the right person for you to work with on the difficulties you are experiencing and to answer any questions that you have. Paul is currently only offering support online or on the telephone. Please call him on 07843 813 537 or fill in the form on the Contact Page, if he doesn’t answer he is probably in a session, please leave me a message and he will call you back as soon as he can.