what to do.  There is a satisfyingfeeling in being truly heard and understood from the inside. Friends and family can do this for us, but a counsellor can offer a couple of other things as well.  Counsellors are not invested in what you are talking about:  they don't have an agenda (except to be there alongside you, supporting you and gently challenging you when you need that too).  You are the expert in you.  No one else knows as well as you do how you feel inside.  However, counsellors have been trained to think about what is happening for you in relation to how our personalities develop from babyhood onwards.  Together, that can form a pretty strong team.  We could come to some sort of new understandings of what you might be able to change about your life, including how you relate to people, so that you can feel more content, more fulfilled.  

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​​Why?

 

I enjoy supporting young people because I could have done with some counselling when I was young and it feels fulfilling to be able to provide that for someone else.  However, I work with people of all ages from 11 years upwards because I also enjoy supporting adults through all the different phases of life.  I  believe that we all deserve to have good mental health, and it needs to be taken care of just as much as our physical health.

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Confidentiality

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Everything that you and I talk about in counselling sessions would be under strict rules of confidentiality.  These are set out by the BACP which is the professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists that I am a member of.  Please see section 55 of https://www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-resources/ethics-and-standards/ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions/  to find out more.  I would therefore not tell your parents anything about what you talk about to me.  If they want to talk to me, I would meet with them either separately to you or together, whichever you both agree to do.  If I speak to them separately, I would not speak to you about what they said.  The exception to all of this is if I am concerned for your safety or for the safety of someone else.  In this case, I would stop you telling me any more before reminding you that I will have to report this to someone in a safeguarding role if you wish to continue to tell me.  If you do, I will write down what you say as an accurate record.  Someone in a safeguarding role might be a Safeguarding Officer, your headteacher, a social worker, a police officer or your parent/s.  We would talk about this together before I divulged any information, but I have a duty of care to you to ensure that you and others are kept safe.​

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