David Gladwell — Counsellor

Counselling and psychotherapy in Croydon

Email counsellor@unseen.is

Phone 07967 388829

Counselling in South London — Croydon

Why Counselling?

‘I’ve never told anyone this before’ or, ‘I’ve never opened up like this before’. Simply being able to share a worry is a step towards feeling better, towards seeing the situation more clearly.

Whatever the challenge, dramatic or seemingly mundane, what is important is the impact it has on you and on your life. Sometimes, apparently small events can knock us off course, make us depressed or anxious. At that point we all need a sounding board.

Family, friends, colleagues can offer support, but there are things you might not be able, or want, to tell them, or you might feel you’re burdening them. And if you can talk to them, they will have their own ideas about what you should do.

Counselling offers an environment which is supportive, confidential and non-judgmental. You don’t have to justify anything. It doesn’t offer pre-packaged solutions, but it can help you to find your own way through the situation. The space is yours. It is a place to talk to someone you can trust as a professional and to whom you can relate as a person.

We all need help sometimes.

My approach to counselling

My approach is ‘integrative’: I follow no one theoretical model but draw on different approaches as appropriate. Counselling is not an academic or a technical exercise, it is fundamentally an interaction between two individuals working together.

As the psychotherapist Petruska Clarkson put it, ‘it is the therapeutic relationship rather than diagnosis or technique or "approach" which creates the beneficial effects of psychotherapy’; in other words, ‘the bond between the client and the therapist’.

I practice both general and rehabilitation (disability) counselling, see my Disability page.

Useful Links: counselling and psychotherapy

Benefits of Talking Therapy
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/benefits-of-talking-therapy.aspx
Counselling
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Counselling/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Personal experiences of counselling and psychotherapy
http://www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk/testimonials
Supporting Safe Therapy
http://www.supportingsafetherapy.org/
Talking Treatments
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-treatments/#.VRcBf_msWSp
What is Therapy and Counselling?
http://www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk/what-is-therapy

Anxiety
http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/anxiety.html
Depression
http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/depression.html

Attachment Theory
http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/a/attachment01.htm
Person-Centred Therapy
http://www.bapca.org.uk/about/what-is-it.html
Theoretical Approaches
http://www.bacp.co.uk/seeking_therapist/theoretical_approaches.php