"Trauma informed" is a bit of a buzz word at present with every other business and service claiming they are trauma informed. For some, they attended a one hour webinar on trauma and now believe they are trauma informed. For others, like us, this involved training, self-reflection, study and personal development to arrive at what we believe is the very best practice for those who have experienced trauma. So what do we think it means? We believe that being trauma informed isn't just understanding how trauma impacts our clients. It involves understanding trauma at all levels; from their individ ..read more

TRIGGER WARNING: Child sexual abuse, sexual abuse/assault I’ve been working with people’s stories of abuse and trauma for six years, so I've been learning to cope with trauma for a while.  First as an abuse lawyer looking after clients seeking compensation for child sex abuse, then as a counsellor working with sexual abuse and sexual assault.  I have heard so many horror stories of abuse against children and violent sexual assaults, that I genuinely cannot recall them all.  But there are some particularly awful ones that stand out and are easily brought to mind.  Sure, the ..read more

It is so great that we have the technology to bring counselling to everyone, even if they are not able to come in person.  To allow this, we offer Zoom counselling appointments.  The benefit of a Zoom appointment over a telephone appointment is that we can see each other in the appointment.  A vast amount of our communication is conveyed by body language rather than words or tone of voice, so being able to see each other is a distinct advantage.  It helps for you to feel more comfortable more quickly with your counsellor. This means that you can start to make progress towa ..read more

GP Mental Health Care Plans (MHCPs) can help people access mental health services at a reduced cost. When you plan to start mental health treatment, including counselling, this is often what is suggested. But they also have downsides. Below we discuss the pros and cons. Pros of Mental Health Care Plans: They give you access to 6 sessions at a time[1] (up to 10 sessions over a calendar year, but temporarily extended to 20 due to Covid-19[2]) with a psychologist/social worker or similar. If your psychologist or social worker bulk bills, the sessions will be free. But in reality, very few do. S ..read more