Perhaps one of the toughest questions a client can ask and not just clients. My counselling students often begin with that question; to start with a firm understanding of what therapy entails and what benefits it might bring. My experience of fear is that frequently it is dominated by the unknown. We are fearful of what we don’t know, what we have yet to experience. We fill those gaps with something we have read or heard from others and then, sometimes, with thoughts that can seem dark and foreboding. New clients may search Counsellors near me or therapy for teens. They might search by desired treatment such as anxiety, depression or panic attacks. 

My answer, though is often, initially at least, a disappointment: Psychotherapy and Counselling are about the client so their experience of it is personal; in essence the client owns it.  So disappointing because it fails to fully remove the unknown element of Psychotherapy. To step into the therapy room and not know what this might mean, what happens once you have searched ​therapist near me.

It may help to hear that, as a Psychotherapist, I don’t know either. At least I don’t know what the therapeutic process is going to be with a new client. Working without expectations can seem daunting but once I was used to that aspect to the work I found it liberating. No client is indicative of any ‘type’, I can honour the truth and individuality that is the person sat in front of me.

That may seem to contradict all of the experiences we’ve had in the past and probably the way we often treat others. All those stereotypes we use to try and make sense of the world and the people we meet. In therapy, though, assumptions can cloud the truth of who someone is.

Psychotherapy, Counselling then, is an open, quiet space into which you can walk and explore your feelings, thoughts and experiences without the baggage of assumption. Therapy belongs to the client and I think that might just be definition enough.

Suite 4

Bourne House

Francis Street

St Helier

Jersey

JE2 4QE

​Christopher 07797 736595

christopher@thequietroom.co.uk

Skype christopher.journeaux1

CONTACT DETAILS

What are Psychotherapy and Counselling

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards

Søren Kierkegaard

I am a Psychotherapist working with both adults and children online and in my therapy room just off La Colomberie, on Francis Street. It is conveniently located a short walk from Green Street car park. I work hours that can match your life and work needs.

CHRISTOPHER JOURNEAUX BSc MBPsS