Spirit & Soul Counselling
Kirsty McCarroll

FACE TO FACE

The traditional way of working and is preferable to many people as they feel more connected in the counsellor/ client relationship and physically coming to an outside, safe secure confidential environment can be beneficial. The room where face to face counselling takes place is within a quiet business area. The building is wheelchair accessible . My room has a clearance of 28” for chairs to enter. If your chair is larger than this it would be only be a few steps from the doorway to the sofa.

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COUPLES COUNSELLING

Couples counselling offers a supportive and confidential space for partners to navigate the challenges that may arise in their relationship. Whether facing communication issues, trust issues, or grappling with major life transitions, I can facilitate open and constructive dialogue. Through evidence-based techniques and empathetic guidance, couples counseling aims to strengthen the emotional connection, foster understanding, and equip partners with tools to navigate the complexities of their relationship. It provides a collaborative opportunity for couples to explore their dynamics, enhance intimacy, and work towards building a resilient and fulfilling partnership.

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CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE COUNSELLING

Children and young persons counselling provides a safe and supportive environment where children can express their thoughts and feelings, work through challenges, and develop coping strategies. This isn’t a place for adults to sign them into to “fix” the issues that adults perceive their child or young person to have. It is a place for the young person to be themselves and do and say whatever they want. 

 

Child centred counselling allows the child/ young person to be in a place once they develop trust with the therapist to ‘just be’. It has to be developmentally appropriate: techniques and interventions are tailored to be age-appropriate and also a safe environment: a space has to be created where children feel safe and understood.

A variety of resources are used to enable this process to develop, among which include arts and crafts, darts, board games, cards, dominos, lego and lego figurines, soft toys, pebbles and fidget toys.

 

The fact that the therapist is not known to the child it can take a while to build up trust so it is important that parents/caregivers are aware of this process and not put pressure on the child to achieve ‘results’ from therapy. It may be the case that the results the child or young person will achieve from counselling maybe not viewed by the parent/caregiver. This can be frustrating for the person who is paying a lot of money for therapy for the child/young person. 

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ONLINE/PHONE COUNSELLING

The pandemic made the world more adaptable and as counsellors we increasingly found ourselves on the other end of a phone or laptop. This has many advantages for people, in that transport and distance aren’t obstacles to getting to appointments, people can search globally for therapists rather than just their locale which makes choosing the right person.

Things to consider when thinking about this style of counselling is how much privacy you can have at home as sometimes the issues you want to discuss are difficult with family around. Thinking about your internet connection and access to a digital device can also be a consideration. Give yourself time after the session to process the session before rejoining your family, working or making other calls.

 

OUTDOOR THERAPY

A risk assessment would be taken before we start our sessions on a particular route. You may be curious what would happen if we see familiar people. We would discuss this before embarking on outdoor therapy. Shoes that you are used to walking in is advisable and a waterproof/appropriate jacket to to take into account the weather may be required. Unless the weather is extreme or terrain dangerous, then the session will go ahead. I spend a lot of time outside in nature  in all weathers and it helps me feel grounded and connected and less ‘ in my head’ and more ‘in the moment’, if this resonates with you please let me know and I’d love to meet you where the natural world reconnects us to the elemental forces!

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EMDR

I would integrate EMDR into sessions as required with your consent. Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach designed for working withdistressing or traumatic memories. The theory behind EMDR is that many psychological difficulties are the result of distressing life experiences which have not been stored in memory properly and are said to be unprocessed or blocked.These traumatic memories may need some help to become processed, and EMDR is one way to do this. Through the use of bilateral stimulation, EMDR is more than just a trauma therapy, it can be used to work through negative self-beliefs and help the mind organize tough experiences. You will have a choice of what method of BLS you use. This could be using the light bar, pulsators in your hand or music.