Counsellors?

[Lindenlass]

Help please! Just about got the guts up to call a counsellor on Friday afternoon and had to leave a message. She's not rung back yet.

DH is off work this week, so would make sense to have an initial appointment this week so I need to speak to someone today, really.

So what should I do now? I guess the options are:

a) wait and keep fingers crossed
b) try and find another counsellor to call

Problems with b) are that FIL (a therapist himself) found the counsellor for me, and has said he'll find another one if that doesn't suit, and so on until we find the right one. However, he takes offence easily and will get the hump if I take the initiative and find my own counsellor. Besides, I don't know how to...

so if you think I should do b), any chance you could tell me a good way of doing it? BACP have hundreds - it's overwhelming! What should I be looking for in a counsellor?

Huge thanks in advance from a real scaredy-cat!

Do you anticipate a few sessions or a long-term thing? I can't talk highly enough of person-centred counselling, but it's best if you want an open-ended thing and you are aware of what you want to get out of it. The one you contacted may be on holiday? as usually they call back quickly. I work in counselling and am happy to give you advice on choosing one that's right for you if you'd like that?

I don't know what I anticipate - I have no idea what I'm doing, really. I just know I need help.

FIL has since given in and given us another number to try (he's working on personal recommendation), but two hours on, I still haven't heard anything .

Can you tell me, apart from accreditation and experience, what am I looking for in a counsellor? There seem to be about a million different types of counselling/therapy! Very confusing!

It's for ?PND +/- some rather deeper underlying issues re. my dad btw. Thanks!

I would look for a person-centred or integrative counsellor then, as a psychodynamic one may have certain theoretical assumptions re your Dad, though that's a sweeping generalisation and maybe unfair as they're not ALL like that....

I would look for a psychotherapist (someone with a higher level of training and possibly UKCP accreditation as well as BACP).

Most charge around 40 pounds/hour but there are some who will charge less depending on your financial circs.

It sounds as if you need a good listener and someone who will give you the time and space to explore your issues with no hidden agenda? IMHO a person-centred therapist will provide this for you, but it may feel like quite a long process as progress is slow - but very empowering and will change the way you think, feel, act and accept yourself.