| The BACP definition of counselling Counselling takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose. It is always at the request of the client as no one can properly be 'sent' for counselling. By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way. In the counselling sessions the client can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family. Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand. The counsellor will encourage the expression of feelings and as a result of their training will be able to accept and reflect the client's problems without becoming burdened by them. Acceptance and respect for the client are essentials for a counsellor and, as the relationship develops, so too does trust between the counsellor and client, enabling the client to look at many aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have considered or been able to face before. The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the behaviour or situations which are proving troublesome and to find an area where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start. The counsellor may help the client to look at the options open to them and help them to decide the best for them. CPCP is an associational member of the BACP and abides by the ethical framework set out by them. When you first contact CPCP you will be offered an initial session which is a Pre-counselling session which will last for 50 minutes. This is for us to find out what you are looking for in coming to us for Counselling; and to give time and space for you to find out whether our service is what you are looking for. If you decide you want to continue Counselling sessions with us, we then look to match your requirements to an appropriate counsellor. You will then be given your first appointment with the counsellor which will be at the same time each week for 50 minutes. A counselling contract will be discussed to come to an agreement with the length of time in counselling offered to you. The service is staffed by a team of professionally trained and widely experienced counsellors and therapists who are accustomed to helping people from many different backgrounds and cultures. As part of the team we have supported and supervised learning for Counsellors in training having a placement with us. - Our service offers counselling that is from an integrative approach including
- Transactional analysis,
- Psychodynamic
- Person-centered
- Gestalt
- Transpersonal
- Cognitive Behavioral
This means that we integrate these different styles of counselling models in our work to offer you different ways of looking at your emotional difficulties. Our belief is that each person who uses our service is unique; so that by using an integrative approach we can draw insights and ideas from the different models to suit you individually. | 
