John Fletcher

At present Ido not have availability at evenings and weekends

I profoundly believe that your experience in counselling can enable you (even though you may not feel like it at the moment) to find whatever are the solutions, changes or ways forward that you think are best for you.  I do not believe that counsellors know what is best for people or should advise them how they should live.

If you do decide to work with me, we'll begin by looking at the particular issues that concern you, how they are affecting you and your life and what your hopes are for counselling. I will share my thoughts and responses with you.

I hope you would feel that I understand you really well so that you can feel more comfortable talking about yourself. We can then discuss, think, reflect and explore together in a way that is helpful to you.

From this, different ways of understanding yourself and addressing the issues that concern you are very likely to emerge and new possibilities can begin to open up for you.

I am an experienced, qualified counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor. I have been in counselling practice in London for 25 years.I have nine years experience in adult Primary Care mental health services and also as a counsellor and supervisor working in statutory mental health services for children, young people and families.

In addition, I have counselled in a women’s prison, in a specialist bereavement project and with children and young people with disabilities and their families.

I was also a qualified Social Worker for over thirty years working with adults, adolescents and children and families in diverse inner City areas.

The most important thing that should happen in a session is that you feel really listened to and understood by your counsellor. Without this, you are unlikely to find your counsellor’s responses helpful.

When you can trust that whatever you say will be listened to with real understanding and respect and accepted without judgement, the way is open for a genuine, empathic exploration of your concerns. The development of new insights and ways of understanding yourself are likely to follow which can become the first steps towards the change in your life that you are seeking.  What is brought to counselling varies with each individual. You might need to talk about things in the past or what's happening in the present, or perhaps both. We might be exploring how to cope with upsetting or sad feelings or looking at how to change negative thinking.

Even with common problems which affect thousands of people, such as depression and anxiety, there are always differences in how people are affected individually.

Depending on the issues concerned, a few sessions might be sufficient or longer term work might be more helpful.

This will usually become clearer as the work progresses.

I offer everyone who contacts me a 30 minute introductory session  - not therapy - to provide the opportunity to meet me and get a feel for me as someone you would feel comfortable to work with.  In this session I would be interested to know what brings you to seek a counsellor and what your hopes for counselling might be. You also may have questions for me.

There is no obligation to begin counselling with me.  If you do decide to work with me time you do not have to commit to a set number of sessions and we will find a regular time to meet