Counselling 4 Brighton – Shelley Holland

Hello, my name is Shelley Holland. I have 20 years experience working with people of all ages and backgrounds and from all walks of life.

All of us, at some point in our life, may feel the need to seek help to get us through an overwhelming emotional difficulty or challenging experience. Life will always throw us curveballs – a loss or bereavement, a trauma, or difficult relationship. We may feel depressed, anxious, angry, or suicidal. Sometimes we don’t know what’s wrong; we just know that we don’t feel quite right. Therapy is an opportunity to resolve what is overwhelming and difficult, and move on to living a life that is the one you want rather than the one you got.

For the past 20 years I have worked as a counsellor with both adults and young people who have come to counselling with a wide range of difficulties and issues they have wanted to explore, for example:

Feeling anxious or stressed
Feelings of anger
Family relationships, past and present
Issues of loss, including bereavement, divorce/separation, redundancy
Feeling depressed, empty, or sad
Self-esteem and confidence issues
’Stuck’ patterns of relating to others
Self-harm
Disordered eating
Trauma experienced in childhood
Physical ill-health and disability
Adult trauma (assault, accidents, etc)
Work difficulties, including career direction
Identity issues
Feeling a lack of purpose or direction in life, or of ’not feeling quite right’

Possibly the most important element in having a successful counselling experience is your relationship with your counsellor. Research has shown that it is the single most important factor in helping your counselling to be effective. My first aim is to encourage a positive relationship between us by providing a secure, safe and supportive environment where problematic issues can be understood through an exploration of both conscious and unconscious feelings – feelings that are buried or difficult to access are just as important as those we are all too aware of feeling!

You may also want to explore distant past or recent past events or relationships. These often heavily influence how we approach our day-to-day life and how we find ourselves responding in our present day relationships with others.

Or you might want to explore destructive repeating behaviour patterns, specific difficult or traumatic events, a physical or mental health issue, or feelings of being stuck or not quite right.

Whatever issues you want to work on you will find your counselling sessions to be a place where you can explore and understand your thoughts and feelings, and where you will be supported to work towards making any changes you decide need to happen.