Counselling

Counselling is a talking therapy that provides a supportive space to explore feelings, challenges and life decisions. Many people use counselling for stress, anxiety, low mood, grief, relationship difficulties and confidence issues.

Sessions are confidential and collaborative, and a counsellor can help you clarify what matters, build coping strategies and improve emotional wellbeing.

Lets find you a Counsellor...

Or, view all Counsellor

Counselling helps you talk through difficulties in a structured, supportive setting. Depending on the counsellor’s approach, sessions may focus on coping strategies, emotional processing, relationship patterns or practical steps for change.

What happens in counselling?

Most counselling sessions last around 50 minutes and happen weekly or fortnightly. Early sessions usually explore what you want help with, your current situation and any relevant background. Your counsellor should explain confidentiality, safeguarding, boundaries and how you will review progress.

What can counselling help with?

Stress and feeling overwhelmed
Anxiety and worry
Low mood and depression support
Grief and bereavement
Relationship difficulties and boundaries
Self-esteem and confidence

Counselling vs psychotherapy

The terms overlap. Counselling is often time-limited and focused on current issues and coping, while psychotherapy may be longer-term and explore deeper patterns. In practice, what matters most is the therapist’s training, approach and your goals.

Choosing a counsellor in the UK

Look for clear information about qualifications, ethics, confidentiality, fees and how they work. A good counsellor should be able to explain their approach and help you decide if it is a good fit.

When to seek urgent help

If you feel at immediate risk, seek urgent help via emergency services or a crisis service. Counselling is not a replacement for urgent or emergency support.

History of Counselling

Counselling developed alongside psychology and social care as a structured way to support people through distress, life transitions and relationship difficulties. Over time, different approaches emerged, including person-centred counselling, integrative counselling and counselling skills within wider healthcare and community settings.

In the UK today, counselling is widely used in private practice, workplaces, education and community services, supporting people with a broad range of emotional and life challenges.

Typical conditions that use Counselling

Condition	Evidence	Notes
Acne-related confidence concerns	strong	Counselling offers a space to talk through the embarrassment and self-consciousness acne can cause and rebuild a kinder self-image.
Addiction / dependency support	strong	Counselling offers a confidential space to explore the roots of dependency and work towards sustained change.
Anger issues	strong	Offers a safe space to explore what lies beneath your anger and develop healthier ways of expressing how you feel.
Anxiety	strong	Widely supported talking therapy for anxiety; choose an approach suited to your needs.
Attachment issues	strong	Counselling offers a steady, trusting relationship in which to explore how early bonds shape your current ways of relating.
Body image concerns	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore the feelings and experiences shaping how you see your body, easing shame and self-criticism.
Boundary issues	strong	Offers a supportive space to explore where your boundaries blur and to build the confidence to assert your needs.
Burnout	strong	A space to talk through exhaustion, work stress and the feelings that come with burnout.
Cancer emotional support (men)	strong	Counselling gives men a confidential space to voice fears around diagnosis, treatment and mortality that they may struggle to share elsewhere.
Career change support	strong	Counselling offers space to explore what's driving your wish to change career and to think through the decision without pressure.
Caregiver stress	strong	Counselling gives carers a confidential space to process guilt, resentment and grief, easing the emotional load of caring.
Chronic illness adjustment	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to process the grief, fear and uncertainty that often come with adjusting to a long-term health condition.
Co-parenting challenges	strong	Offers a neutral space to process the emotions of separation and agree practical, child-focused co-parenting arrangements.
Depression	strong	A supportive space to talk through depression, with review and signposting where needed.
Difficulty reaching orgasm	strong	Offers a safe space to explore the worries, shame or relationship strains that can interfere with letting go and climaxing.
Domestic abuse recovery support (sensitive)	strong	Counselling offers a confidential, non-judgemental space to make sense of abuse, rebuild self-worth and process feelings of fear, shame or self-blame.
Eating disorder recovery support (alongside specialist care)	strong	Provides a confidential space to explore the feelings, control and self-worth issues that often sit beneath disordered eating during recovery.
Emotional dysregulation (neurodiversity)	strong	Counselling offers a steady space to explore what overwhelms you and build practical ways to steady intense feelings linked to neurodivergence.
Emotional eating	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore the emotions driving the urge to eat and to understand what comfort food is masking.
Emotional regulation difficulties	strong	Offers a safe space to explore what drives strong emotional reactions and to develop healthier ways of expressing and managing them.
Erectile dysfunction	strong	Offers a confidential space to explore stress, self-esteem and worries about performance that can contribute to erectile difficulties.
Exam stress	strong	Counselling offers a space to talk through pressure, expectations and fear of failure that often build during exam periods.
Family conflict	strong	Counselling offers a neutral space where family members can voice grievances, feel heard and work towards calmer, more respectful communication.
Fatherhood adjustment	strong	Counselling offers new dads a confidential space to talk through the loss of freedom, shifting roles and worries that often go unspoken in early fatherhood.
Friendship difficulties	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore why friendships feel strained and to build the confidence and skills to connect with others.
Gambling problems	strong	Counselling offers a confidential space to explore the financial, emotional and relationship harms gambling has caused and plan steps to regain control.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)	strong	A supportive space to talk through persistent worry and anxiety.
Grief and bereavement	strong	A core support for working through loss at your own pace.
Guilt	strong	Offers a non-judgemental space to talk through feelings of guilt, making sense of what happened and easing the weight of self-blame.
Gut-brain stress symptoms	strong	Talking through the stress and worry feeding your gut symptoms can lower tension and help break the cycle of physical flare-ups.
Hair loss-related distress	strong	Offers a safe space to talk through the grief, shame and changed self-image that hair loss can bring.
Health anxiety	strong	Counselling offers a supportive space to explore the fears and uncertainties driving your preoccupation with illness and your health.
Imposter syndrome	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore where imposter feelings began and ease the chronic self-doubt and fear of being 'found out' at work.
Intimacy concerns	strong	Offers a safe space to explore the feelings, fears and past experiences shaping how you connect physically and emotionally with a partner.
Intimacy difficulties	strong	Offers a safe space to explore the feelings, fears and past experiences that may be blocking emotional and physical closeness.
Intrusive thoughts	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to talk through distressing intrusive thoughts and ease the shame and fear that often surround them.
Irritability	strong	Counselling offers space to explore what lies beneath persistent irritability, easing frustration and improving how you relate to others.
Jealousy	strong	Counselling offers a non-judgemental space to talk through jealous feelings and the fears of loss or betrayal that often lie beneath them.
Leadership coaching goals	strong	Counselling offers leaders a reflective space to explore the stresses of responsibility and develop healthier ways of relating to their teams.
Libido concerns (supportive)	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to talk through stress, body image and life changes that may be affecting your interest in sex.
Life transitions / adjustment issues	strong	Counselling offers a confidential space to talk through the upheaval of a major life change and make sense of mixed feelings at your own pace.
Loneliness	strong	Counselling offers a regular, accepting relationship where you can explore feelings of isolation and rebuild confidence in connecting with others.
Long-term condition coping	strong	Offers a confidential space to process the emotional impact of ongoing illness and adjust to changes in daily life.
Low confidence	strong	A supportive space to understand and rebuild self-worth.
Low libido	strong	Offers space to explore stress, body image or life changes affecting libido, and to talk openly about intimacy concerns.
Low mood	strong	A safe space to talk through low mood, with review and signposting where symptoms persist.
Low mood in men	strong	Offers men a confidential space to talk openly about feelings they may usually suppress, easing the weight of low mood.
Low motivation	strong	Explores what is draining motivation and how to reconnect with what matters.
Motivation and goal setting	strong	Offers space to explore what genuinely matters to you, clarifying values and the barriers that hold back motivation and follow-through.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)	strong	Counselling offers a supportive space to talk through the distress, shame and impact that intrusive thoughts and rituals create in daily life.
Painful sex (dyspareunia)	strong	Offers a safe space to talk through the shame, fear and relationship strain that often surround experiencing pain during sex.
Panic attacks	strong	Counselling offers a supportive space to explore the fears and triggers behind your panic and to build coping strategies.
Panic disorder	strong	Offers a supportive space to explore the fears and triggers behind your panic, easing the anxiety that fuels recurring attacks.
Parenting stress	strong	Offers a confidential space to talk through the pressures of raising children and feel genuinely heard and supported.
Pelvic pain	strong	Space to process the emotional impact of ongoing pelvic pain.
People pleasing	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore why your needs come last and to rebuild a sense of your own worth and boundaries.
Perfectionism	strong	Counselling offers a space to explore the fear of failure and self-criticism that drive perfectionism, easing the pressure to be flawless.
Performance anxiety	strong	Offers a supportive space to explore the fears and self-doubt underlying performance anxiety and to develop confidence ahead of demanding situations.
Phobias	strong	Counselling offers a supportive space to explore the roots of your fear and the impact it has on daily life and decisions.
Postnatal emotional support	strong	A safe space to process birth, identity and adjustment after having a baby.
Pregnancy anxiety support	strong	A safe space to talk through worries about pregnancy, birth and becoming a parent.
Premature ejaculation	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to talk through the anxiety, frustration and self-doubt that often surround early ejaculation and sustain it.
Procrastination	strong	Counselling offers space to explore the fears, perfectionism or low motivation that drive putting things off, and to find practical next steps.
Public speaking nerves	strong	Offers a space to explore where your fear of speaking comes from and to build confidence in expressing yourself to an audience.
Relationship stress (men)	strong	Counselling offers men a confidential space to talk through relationship strain, untangle frustrations and explore what they want from the partnership.
Resilience building	strong	Offers a supportive space to explore your strengths, process difficult experiences and develop steadier ways of handling life's pressures.
Rumination / overthinking	strong	Counselling offers space to explore what drives your overthinking and to talk through worries that keep replaying in your mind.
Self-harm thoughts (sensitive)	strong	Offers a confidential space to talk openly about self-harm urges and the distress beneath them, easing isolation and shame.
Separation / divorce support	strong	Offers a confidential space to process the grief, anger and uncertainty that often accompany the end of a relationship.
Sexual difficulties	strong	Counselling offers a confidential space to explore the feelings, shame or relationship strains that often surround sexual difficulties.
Sexual performance anxiety (supportive)	strong	Offers a confidential space to explore the worries, pressure and self-doubt behind performance anxiety and ease the shame that often surrounds it.
Sexual wellbeing concerns (supportive)	strong	Offers a safe, non-judgemental space to explore feelings about sex, desire and body image, easing shame that often blocks sexual wellbeing.
Shame	strong	Counselling offers a safe, non-judgemental space to voice shameful feelings, often loosening their grip once spoken aloud and accepted.
Skin picking (dermatillomania) support	strong	Counselling offers a space to explore the stress, shame and triggers behind skin picking and build healthier coping strategies.
Sleep anxiety	strong	Offers a space to explore the fears and pressures keeping you awake, easing the dread that builds as bedtime approaches.
Social anxiety	strong	Talking through social fears with a counsellor offers a safe space to explore where avoidance comes from and to practise facing everyday social situations.
Social isolation	strong	Counselling offers a safe space to explore the feelings behind your isolation and to rebuild trust in relating to others.
Stammering (stuttering)	strong	Counselling offers space to explore the frustration, self-consciousness and low confidence that living with a stammer can bring.
Stress	strong	A common reason people seek counselling; helps you understand your stressors and build practical coping and support.
Trauma after accident or assault	strong	Offers a safe space to talk through what happened, make sense of distressing reactions and rebuild a sense of safety.
Trouble falling asleep	strong	Helps where worry or stress at bedtime is keeping you awake.
Trouble staying asleep	strong	Counselling offers space to explore the worries or stress that surface in the small hours, easing the anxiety that fragments your sleep.
Trust issues	strong	Offers a safe, non-judgemental space to explore where the difficulty trusting began and how it shapes current relationships.
Vaginismus	strong	Offers a safe space to explore the anxiety, shame or past experiences that can underlie the involuntary muscle response.
Weight management (behaviour change support)	strong	Counselling offers space to explore the emotions and stressors behind eating habits, helping you build healthier routines.
Work-life balance	strong	Offers space to talk through the pressures and competing demands pulling work and home apart, clarifying what matters most to you.
Workplace stress	strong	Counselling offers a confidential space to talk through workplace demands, conflicts and overwhelm, helping you regain perspective and balance.
ADHD (support / coaching alongside medical care)	moderate	Counselling gives a supportive space to process the frustration, low self-esteem and relationship strain that ADHD can bring, complementing medical management.
Asthma-related anxiety support (adjunct)	moderate	Offers a supportive space to talk through fears about attacks and the impact living with asthma has on your day-to-day wellbeing.
Autism / ASC support	moderate	Counselling gives autistic people a steady space to talk through identity, relationships and the demands of a neurotypical world.
Bipolar disorder (support alongside medical care)	moderate	Provides a steady, supportive space to talk through the impact of mood episodes and adjust to living with bipolar disorder.
Chronic fatigue syndrome / ME support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the grief, isolation and frustration that often accompany life with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Communication difficulties	moderate	Counselling offers a supportive space to explore frustrations around being understood and to practise expressing needs more clearly with others.
Cravings	moderate	Counselling offers a space to explore the emotions and habits that drive cravings, helping you understand and respond to them differently.
Eczema stress impact support	moderate	Offers space to talk through the frustration, sleep loss and self-consciousness that living with eczema can bring during stressful periods.
Endometriosis support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the impact of chronic pain, fertility worries and the emotional toll that endometriosis can carry.
Executive dysfunction	moderate	Counselling offers a space to address the frustration and low self-worth that often accompany struggles with planning and focus.
Fatigue	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore the stress, low mood or life pressures that can drain energy and leave persistent fatigue feeling worse.
Feeling overwhelmed	moderate	Counselling offers space to talk through everything piling up, sort competing pressures and feel less alone with the load.
Fertility stress (emotional support)	moderate	Offers a confidential space to process grief, uncertainty and relationship strain while trying to conceive.
Focus and concentration difficulties	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore stress, low mood or worry that may be scattering your attention and undermining concentration.
Food-related anxiety (supportive)	moderate	Counselling offers a safe space to explore the worries and past experiences driving anxious feelings around food and eating.
High blood pressure stress support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling offers space to work through the worries and pressures that feed stress, indirectly supporting calmer blood pressure.
Language and communication difficulties (speech/language)	moderate	Counselling provides space to process the frustration and low confidence that language difficulties can bring, complementing specialist speech work.
Learning difficulties support (non-diagnostic)	moderate	Provides a supportive space to talk through frustration, isolation and self-esteem issues that often accompany living with a learning difficulty.
Lipolymphoedema support	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the emotional impact and self-esteem challenges of a chronic, often misunderstood swelling disorder.
Low energy	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore stress, low mood or life pressures that can quietly sap motivation and leave you feeling persistently exhausted.
Low self-esteem	moderate	A supportive space to understand and rebuild self-esteem.
Lymphoedema (lymphedema)	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the emotional impact of a long-term, visible condition like lymphoedema and its daily demands.
Memory concerns (supportive)	moderate	Offers a space to talk through worries about slipping memory and the stress or low mood that often makes concentration harder.
Menopause symptoms	moderate	Space to talk through the emotional and life changes menopause can bring.
Multiple sclerosis support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling gives people with MS a space to process the emotional impact of diagnosis, uncertainty and changing abilities.
Neuralgia support	moderate	Counselling offers a space to process the frustration and isolation of living with chronic nerve pain, supporting emotional wellbeing alongside treatment.
Non-restorative sleep	moderate	Offers space to explore the worries or stress that may be keeping sleep shallow, so the mind is calmer and rest feels more restorative.
Parkinson’s support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling offers a space to process the emotional impact of a Parkinson's diagnosis and adjust to its day-to-day demands.
PCOS support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling gives space to process the emotional impact of PCOS, including fertility worries and changes to self-image.
Perimenopause symptoms	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the mood shifts, identity changes and anxiety many women experience as hormones fluctuate in perimenopause.
Peripheral neuropathy support (adjunct)	moderate	Offers a space to process the frustration, anxiety and loss that can accompany living with ongoing numbness, tingling and nerve pain.
PMDD support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling offers a regular space to talk through the distress and relationship strain that PMDD can bring each cycle.
Post-viral fatigue support	moderate	Offers space to process the emotional toll of a slow recovery, easing the worry and isolation that can deepen post-viral exhaustion.
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)	moderate	Counselling offers a space to talk through the emotional ups and downs of PMS and build practical ways to manage premenstrual distress.
Psoriasis stress impact support	moderate	Talking through the emotional toll of a chronic, visible skin condition can ease isolation and the stress that aggravates psoriasis.
Relationship conflict	moderate	Offers a neutral space to talk openly about tensions, feel heard and understand each other's viewpoint during ongoing disputes.
Sedentary lifestyle support	moderate	Offers space to explore the low motivation or barriers behind inactivity, supporting steps towards a more active life.
Sensory overload	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore how sensory overload affects daily life, validating the experience and supporting practical ways to manage triggers.
Sports injury recovery support	moderate	Counselling offers a supportive space to process the emotional impact of being sidelined by injury; it complements, not replaces, clinical recovery care.
Stroke recovery support (adjunct)	moderate	Counselling gives space to process the emotional impact and identity changes after stroke, supporting recovery alongside medical care.
Time management	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore why deadlines slip, easing the overwhelm and avoidance that often sit behind poor time management.
TMJ / jaw tension	moderate	Counselling offers space to manage the stress and anxiety that often fuel jaw clenching; it is not a substitute for dental or medical care.
Tremor support	moderate	Counselling offers space to process the frustration and social worries that living with a visible tremor can bring.
Vertigo support	moderate	Offers space to process the distress and loss of confidence that recurrent vertigo can bring, supporting day-to-day coping.
Voice problems	moderate	Counselling offers space to explore the stress, frustration or low mood that often accompany losing your voice and may aggravate it.
Chronic cough impact support	limited	Counselling offers supportive space to manage the frustration and social strain of a long-standing cough; evidence is limited and it complements medical care.
Daytime sleepiness	limited	Talking through stress, mood or worry can ease the disrupted sleep behind daytime drowsiness, though it works best alongside appropriate medical care.
Habit change / behaviour change	moderate	Explores what drives an unwanted habit and supports lasting change.
Hay fever impact support	limited	Counselling gives space to talk through the stress and low mood that relentless hay fever symptoms can bring during the pollen season.

Frequently asked questions

How do I choose between short and long-term work?

Discuss aims with your counsellor. You can review progress and extend or conclude as needed.

Is online counselling available?

Many practitioners offer in-person or online sessions; your preferences can be accommodated.

What if I feel worse before better?

It is common to feel emotional. Pacing and support are used to manage this safely.