I'm often asked how counselling and psychotherapy works. There are many ways in which it facilitates change, and it varies from person to person. But there's one things that nearly all clients I work with recognise as helpful. The increased understanding and awareness that results from therapy can give us choices about how we react, respond or behave.

Where self-awareness remains limited, we're more likely to fall into old patterns of feeling and behaving. It's rather like falling into familiar and outworn ruts. Even though these habitual ways may not serve us well, we fall back into them because they're all we know.

Exploring and understanding aspects of ourselves can create new perspectives, resulting in new ways of being with ourselves and others. Choosing to respond differently can begin to feel empowering.