Gareth Barnes

I am available 4-6 on Mondays, 8-5 on Tuesdays. 4-6 on Wednesday and 9-12 on Saturdays. I have spaces available for new clients at the moment.

HI, I'm a fully qualified and registered counsellor based in Horwich, Lancashire. I offer talking therapy to provide a space where you can work through common life problems like bereavement, feelings of anxiety, depression, relationship issues,  work related stress, hopelessness or sometimes a feeling of being stuck and not knowing what to do next.

In most of our work together, the focus will be on you, but you of course, need to know need to know a little bit about me.

After a career in law, events in my life caused me reassess where I was going in life, and what I really wanted from it. I had struggled with feeling anxious and low on and off in my life, and like many people, especially men, I thought it would go away on its own.

Counselling helped me to come to terms with a number of bereavements. I retrained as a counsellor in my mid 40s, working with Cruse Bereavement Care and a charity which supports homeless people.

At the core of my counselling practice is a belief that through counselling, you can become the person you always wanted to be, and that taking responsibility for yourself is empowering and can increase resilience in the face of the ups and downs of life

My training is as a person centered counsellor, meaning that you are the focus of the work, what can you expect from me is a warm and safe space in which to talk about your thoughts and feelings, and come to conclusions about how you can best overcome your problems.   I will give a safe and non-judgmental space where you can talk openly and honestly work through your problems and issues.  Our work will be completely confidential so you can say what's on your mind.  I am here to listen and help you to explore what is going on for you.

You are the expert on you, and the answers come from within you, that way the solutions will always be with you.

Our work together will bring you the change that you need in life, to come to terms with your past, and look ahead to a brighter future.  As you come to know yourself more, and show yourself more compassion, you will also come understand others more, and have increased confidence and wellbeing.

I use a variety of approaches which might include including CBT and solution focused therapy, these will give you practical tools to deal with problems such as panic attacks and anxiety.

I work face to face, online via video call and also by telephone, each approach is effective, the choice lies with you as a client.  We can approach this flexibly and can change as and when needed.

The first session can be daunting,  I too have been that person unsure of what will happen.  In our first meeting we will make an agreement about how we will work together, you have input into this as well as me.  I will then ask you to tell me about yourself and what you would like to gain from your therapy.

Our initial conversation will be free and via phone, where you can tell me what you are looking for help with, and I can see if I can offer you the type of help you need, its a two way process. If I can help you and you feel we would be a good fit, we can then move towards setting up our first session.