Neil Philbin

Counselling & Psychotherapy is a special relationship in which to explore yourself and gain understanding of your struggles.  Modern society does not always cater for this type of deep honest conversation. We often have behaviours, thought processes and feelings that we don't understand - or feel out of control of, this 'internal programming' can be changed or updated with the right kind of support. My practice is based around compassion and collaboration, to work out what you want your life to look like and how you can achieve it. This may involve learning to cope with - and express difficult emotions, understanding and challenging unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, and improving the way you relate to people in order to get your needs met. I draw from many theories in order to find the right system of therapy to suit each client, avoiding the use of a 'one size fits all' approach. People often get 'stuck' and I am passionate about helping my clients find direction and fulfilment.

The first session is always an assessment. In this session I will explain the basics of psychotherapy and give practical information about confidentiality and GDPR. I tend to take some notes in this session and will ask for some personal details but still try to keep it as informal as possible. The assessment session is our first introduction and I understand this can be quite scary, the main object of the assessment is for you to decide whether you feel comfortabe with me, while I assess how I may be able to help. I will usually suggest that you take a few days to decide whether you want to continue working with me after the first session, and if I feel you need more specialist help or a different kind of therapy, I will offer to help you find someone more suitable.