I wanted to record a more personal introduction to Jack English Counselling, because I think it matters that clients know there is a real person behind the counselling room.
One of the barriers some people can have with counselling is the idea that the counsellor is somehow perfect, untouched by life, or looking down from a place of having everything sorted. I don’t believe that helps.
I am a qualified counsellor, but I am also human. I have had my own challenges, my own losses, my own difficult chapters, and my own times where life has felt like survival rather than living.
Over the past couple of years, and especially over the past year, life has been challenging. I have had to deal with anxiety, weight changes, emotional pressure, and times where I felt I was simply doing what was needed to keep going.
I have also spoken openly about living in a caravan for a couple of years after divorce, working to clear debt, rebuild my life, and regain some control. I have been married three times, and I do not hide the fact that life has not always gone neatly or perfectly for me.
The reason I share this is not because counselling is about me. It isn’t. Counselling is always about the client.
But I do think it matters that people know I am not sitting there as someone who has never struggled. I know what it is to have to fight back. I know what it is to feel knocked down by life and still have to find a way forward.
For me, being a counsellor is not about pretending to be above human difficulty. It is about being able to sit with another person honestly, without judgement, and offer a space where they can speak openly about what life really feels like for them.
You do not need to be perfect to come to counselling.
You do not need to have the right words.
You do not need to have everything figured out.
You just need a space where you can start being honest about what is going on.
That is what I aim to offer through Jack English Counselling: a grounded, honest, person-centred space for adults and couples who want to talk things through properly.
You can find out more about the counselling options available through the website, or book an online session directly.