Counselling Rooms

Sometimes life can seem overwhelming. Whether it's juggling responsibilities, dealing with emotional challenges or tackling a significant project, it can sometimes feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Focusing on the first step can be a really helpful and empowering strategy. One small step feels manageable and it sends us the message that we are making progress.

Having an unbiased, non-judgemental and empathetic person to witness, help you untangle and prioritise your challenges can be very effective. Contact me to explore psychotherapy or counselling:
[email protected]

If you are thinking you need change, speaking with a therapist could be really helpful. Many of our Counsellors offer remote, weekend and evening appointments as well as daytime. Look at our directory to find help with making changes in your life www.counsellingrooms.org.uk

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut or start to feel like our life just isn't on track. When this happens, it could be time for a change. Here are seven signs you might be ready to shake up the status quo.

JPL Counselling are Taking on new clients for counselling

🧠 **Your Mental Health Is Just as Important as Your Physical Health** 🧠

Taking care of your mind is just as important as taking care of your body, but many of us feel unsure or even embarrassed about getting help for our mental well-being. If you’ve ever felt this way, know that you’re not alone—and it’s okay to reach out.

Think of a counsellor like a personal trainer, but for your mind. Just like a trainer helps you get stronger physically, a therapist is there to help you handle life’s challenges, manage stress, and feel better emotionally. They’re here to listen, support, and help you grow at your own pace.

Why See a Counsellor?

- [ ] - It’s a safe place to talk about what’s on your mind.
- [ ] - You’ll learn new ways to handle stress, anxiety, and other feelings.
- [ ] - Understand yourself and your relationships better.
- [ ] - Get support for life’s ups and downs from someone trained to help.

Don’t wait until things feel too hard. Just like you wouldn’t ignore a physical injury, don’t ignore your mental health. Taking care of it now can make a big difference in how you feel every day.

I currently have some availability and am taking on new clients. If you’re curious about therapy or not sure where to start, visit www.jplcounselling.co.uk to learn more. There’s no shame in asking for help—only strength.

Fatherhood is often portrayed as a time of joy and fulfillment, but the reality can be far more complex. Recent studies from the UK reveal that many new fathers experience profound psychological distress during the perinatal period—often in silence.

💡 **Did You Know?**

- Up to 15% of fathers suffer from anxiety and 10% from depression in the first year after their child is born.

- Many dads feel intense emotions like anger, despair, and even hatred, stemming from a lack of control over their new life circumstances.

What Fathers Are Going Through: Some fathers initially feel ambivalent about their new role, leading to confusion and guilt. This can evolve into extreme negative emotions, such as feeling trapped, angry, or overwhelmed by their responsibilities.

Work-Life Strain: Work becomes both a necessity and an escape. While it’s a source of stress, it’s also a refuge from the challenges at home, where fathers may dread returning to face frustrated partners, crying babies, and ongoing relationship conflicts.

Fear of Judgment: Fathers often fear being judged for their emotions, particularly the darker ones like anger or despair, during a time that is supposed to be joyful. This fear can lead them to bottle up their feelings, further exacerbating their mental health struggles.

Lack of Support: Many fathers feel excluded from maternity services and question the legitimacy of their experiences. They worry that seeking help might detract from the support their partner needs, leading them to suffer in silence.

**Why Person-Centred Therapy Can Help:**

As a person-centred counsellor, I’m here to provide a safe, non-judgmental space where you can explore these emotions. This approach puts you at the centre, acknowledging your experiences and helping you find your path through this challenging time.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the transition to fatherhood, you don’t have to go through it alone. Your feelings are valid, and support is available.

🗓 **Book a Free 20-Minute Chat:** Visit www.jplcounselling.co.uk to schedule.

Did you know that some of our counsellors offer counselling to children and young people. Take a look at our directory to find out more about our services.
https://counsellingrooms.org.uk/find-a-counsellor/

Our latest blog post about trauma from Lisawhiteheadtherapy

https://counsellingrooms.org.uk/trauma/

A 12-Minute Body Scan Meditation for Letting Go of Stress and Falling Asleep This week, Kelly Boys leads us in a body scan meditation to let go of stress we may be holding in our bodies so we can surrender into rest.

Carol Peters recently joined the Counselling Rooms, offering an Integrative approach to adults, children and corporate clients.

Carol Peters – Counselling Rooms I offer a therapeutic and purposeful service(s). A fully inclusive, safe confidential space for you to share., which is non-judgemental irrespective of identity, class, gender, cultural norms, age, religious beliefs, and practices.

Did you know we are committed to making counselling and psychotherapy available to as many people as possible, including people on low incomes.

All of the therapists working from Counselling Rooms offer some of their sessions at reduced rates to people who otherwise could not afford to have therapy.

Our reduced rate sessions are currently £25/hour. We ask potential clients who are looking for a reduced rate to speak directly with the therapist they are interested in working with to see if they have any availability.

www.counsellingrooms.org.uk

If your looking for a counsellor take a look at our directory. Our counselling rooms are in Chorlton in south Manchester but many of our counsellors also offer remote sessions www.counsellingrooms.org.uk

It's not easy to be positive when you are struggling but please do try and remember some of these if at all possible 💚

Would you try this? This is a strategy for emotion regulation I recently shared in one of my courses and I thought you might find it helpful too. I use it myself often and it has helped me self-regulate countless times.

Cognitive defusion is a technique often used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which includes separating yourself from your negative thoughts and emotions. It allows you to gain alternative perspective and reduce the emotional intensity of your thoughts. And as a result, it can help alleviate the intensity of negative self-talk and create a more supportive internal dialogue.

For example, instead of thinking, “I am anxious,” you say to yourself, “I am noticing that I am experiencing anxiety.” Basically, you separate you as a person from your emotions and when you do this, you stop identifying with negative thoughts and feelings as if they define who you are.

The way you speak to yourself matters. Research repeatedly tells us that the words we use to speak to ourselves have a significant impact on our psychological health. If you are constantly judging yourself, putting yourself down, and criticizing your efforts, you will eventually start to believe those things (even if they are not true).

The last example is also a form of cognitive defusion where you separate how you think about a person in the moment from who they are as a person. This technique helps to create a mental distinction between your immediate thoughts or feelings and the person’s overall character.

Take care if your mind and body. Love, Nawal ♥️

A 12-Minute Meditation for Navigating Grief Anniversaries This week, Elaine Smookler invites us into a practice that gently supports us in honoring and processing our feelings during these tender times.

Looking for a counsellor that can offer appointments remotely? search on our website as many of our counsellors are also offering remote therapy sessions throughout the week.

Counselling Rooms We are a not-for-profit company based in Chorlton, South Manchester, that provides therapy rooms at very affordable rates to individual counsellors and psychotherapists. By doing this we support them to offer affordable therapy to their clients. 

What do you think about this article?

Two things I would challenge are:

1. I do not see anger as a 'negative emotion.' I believe that all emotions are useful and contain wisdom; what matters is how we respond to them. Anger usually indicates that somebody has overstepped a boundary. Anger can be a very positive initiatory energy, providing us with the spark to act against injustice, etc. However, anger can be destructive if we react to situations when we are emotionally disregulated. When we join the motivational energy of anger with mindfulness we can respond to situations with more skill and calmness.

2. I do not believe it is appropriate to create a hierarchy of anger management techniques. Different techniques can serve different people in different contexts. Emotions are energy in motion. When we feel anger (or any other emotion), energetic shifts happen in our body. At times, it can be entirely appropriate to 'chill out', using techniques like mindfulness to notice, accept and gently process our internal state. However, it is also important to use movement and sound to safely express our emotions - shouting, singing, punching a pillow etc. This can shift the energy that might otherwise get stuck or repressed in our bodies. Over time, if we choose not to healthily express our emotions, potential consequences include auto-immune diseases, feelings of resentment and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

https://theconversation.com/chilling-out-rather-than-blowing-off-steam-is-a-better-way-to-manage-anger-new-review-of-154-studies-reveals-what-works-225984

Taking that first step to start therapy can feel overwhelming. It’s a lot like finding your way through a maze – you know help is out there, but it’s tough to figure out where to start.

When you first look into therapy, the huge range of different types can seem confusing. Each therapist has their own style and methods, based on the theories they’ve learned. It’s totally normal if you don’t instantly connect with the first therapist you meet or if the session doesn’t meet your expectations.

Don’t give up! Finding the right therapist is a bit like shopping for the perfect pair of shoes – sometimes you need to try a few before you find the right fit. This is all part of your journey to better mental health.

There are many different kinds of therapy out there, each tailored to different needs. You can check them out here - https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/types-of-therapy/.

As for me, I’m a person-centred counsellor, which means I focus on seeing things from your point of view and helping you on your own path to understanding yourself better.

Just thinking about starting therapy is a big, brave step forward.

It is much easier to search for a counsellor now on our revamped website. Many of our Counsellors offer remote sessions as well as face to face sessions at our lovely therapy rooms in south Manchester.

Counselling Rooms We are a not-for-profit company based in Chorlton, South Manchester, that provides therapy rooms at very affordable rates to individual counsellors and psychotherapists. By doing this we support them to offer affordable therapy to their clients. 

Free webinar which looks very interesting for our colleagues and clients as part of the York Festival of Ideas

York Festival of Ideas | Complex Trauma UK York Festival of Ideas

In our latest blog Zoe Moss Counselling talks about the difference between overthinkng and reflection, and how to manage negative thinking.

https://counsellingrooms.org.uk/overthinking-vs-reflection/

Have you ever wondered what psychotherapy is compared to psychiatry or psychology? Pathlight Ltd explain more here:

https://counsellingrooms.org.uk/what-is-psychotherapy/

New clients currently being accepted for counselling with JPL Counselling

JPL Counselling – Manchester | Online and Telephone Counsellor in South Manchester Jamie from JPL Counselling is a BACP registered Counsellor in South Manchester offering Online and Telephone Counselling sessions in the Wythenshawe, Altrincham, Sale, Stockport, Wilmslow, Hale, Chorlton, Didsbury, Manchester City Centre, Levenshulme and Longsight areas.

Our website has had a revamp so it is much easier to find a Counsellor here at our counselling rooms in Chorlton. If you are looking for help with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, work related stress and more - then take a look at our highly experienced Counsellors who can help

Counselling Rooms We are a not-for-profit company based in Chorlton, South Manchester, that provides therapy rooms at very affordable rates to individual counsellors and psychotherapists. By doing this we support them to offer affordable therapy to their clients. 

Increasing activity this April fit wellbejng

Getting active boosts our happiness, especially when we get outside and connect with others too ☀️
Join us and be part of Active April

https://actionforhappiness.org/active-april

Spring has arrived. Some great ideas here for well-being Spring into spring! 17 simple, surprising ways to refresh and renew your life

Spring into spring! 17 simple, surprising ways to refresh and renew your life This is the perfect time to make lasting changes – whether embracing exercise, learning a new language, planting seeds or painting your house

Morning anxiety? take a read of possble causes

Do you notice your anxiety is worse when you wake up? 😳
If so, you're not alone, this is common.

Here's some of the possible causes:
⚠️ Cortisol, a stress hormone, is strongest in the first hour of waking. If we're not anxious then this is useful as it gets us up and moving, but if there's underlying anxiety then it can feel overwhelming
🩸 Blood sugar being too high or low before bed can play a part; consider what you eat before going to sleep
🍷 Alcohol consumption

Obviously, the main cause of morning anxiety is....well, having anxiety, and that's something that has many causes. Ideally, you'd need to get to the root of that problem and learn how to reduce and manage it. For that, I recommend talking to a counsellor/therapist.

Here's some other things that can help:
- reducing caffeine
- doing exercise in the morning
- mindfulness meditation
- walking in nature
- listening to a comedy podcast
- focusing on what you can control e.g. make a realistic to-do list and start ticking things off
- reminding yourself this feeling will pass & it doesn't mean anything bad is happening
- calming breathwork

You're very welcome to get in touch and go on my waiting list for counselling, or you can check out for more support.

If you get morning anxiety share your tips for coping/overcoming in the comments 👇🏻

🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅

In every session, I strive to create an environment where understanding, none judgement and being genuine aren’t just words—they are the essence of my practice.

A client shared their experience of working with me. Here’s what they said:

“Very kind and professional, I never feel judged when talking with him. Very understanding in a way if I explain something to him, he will reply with the exact words that I lack.”

At JPL Counselling, I believe in the power of truly listening and responding with the care and precision your stories deserve. Your voice, your story, and your journey towards healing is important to me.

To start your start your story and write your our path to healing and understanding visit www.jplcounselling.co.uk

We are delighted to welcome Laura Jane to the Counselling Rooms. Laura is currently taking on new clients for counselling available on Monday mornings. Please contact her directly for further information.

www.ljetherapy.co.uk

Counselling | Lje Counselling And Psychotherapy | Manchester LJE Therapy is a Counselling and Psychotherapist service within the South Manchester area. Offering face-to-face, online and telephone therapy.

"The truth about our childhood is stored up in our body and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated and conceptions confused and our body tricked with medication. But someday our body will present its bill, for it is as incorruptible as a child, who, still whole in spirit, will accept no compromises or excuses, and it will not stop tormenting us until we stop evading the truth."
~ Alice Miller

Any trauma that we experience is held in our bodies. Unless we are able to process this , it may manifest via 'unexplained' pain, auto-immune diseases or other unwanted symptoms. Working with the body in can be a highly effective way to process trauma.

Contact us for an initial assessment now:
[email protected]

Hello Chorlton and Manchester! I’m Jamie, a dedicated person-centred therapist here to walk with you on your journey towards mental wellness. Whether you’re grappling with life’s challenges, seeking personal growth, or just need a listening ear, I’m here to support you.

📍 **Location:** Trafalgar House, 5-7 High Lane, Chorlton, Manchester M21 9DJ
🔗 **Offerings:** Face-to-Face, Online, and Telephone Counselling
📅 **Availability:** Every Saturday

✨ **My Approach:**
As a person-centred therapist, I believe you are the expert of your own life. My role is to provide a safe, empathetic space where you can explore your feelings and thoughts without judgment. Together, we will work towards understanding and embracing your true self.

💷 **Fees:** £45 per session (Accessible rates)
💖 **Reduced Fee:** Available for individuals on a low income

Your mental health is a priority. It’s not just about coping, but thriving. Let’s embark on this transformative journey together. Feel free to reach out for a chat or to book a session.

📩 visit www.jplcounselling.co.uk to book a session.
Let’s make your wellbeing a priority. Together, we can find your path to inner peace and resilience.

We wish all our clients past and present a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year