Anxiety may be associated with or arise from a broad variety of experiences. It can be deeply troubling and may prevent a person from fully engaging with life or with things they would like to do or accomplish. Therapy often helps disentangle anxiety from its root causes.

Understanding this and how anxiety affects the mind and body can equip the person to manage their distress and ultimately reduce it.

Stress is a common problem for which clients seek therapy. Discussing with a therapist often enables a person to recognise stress-inducing elements in their lives. They may then be able to control, remove or avoid them or find ways to practice greater self-awareness and self-compassion in stressful situations.

Trauma is an umbrella term for a broad range of deeply distressing experiences that may have had long-term negative effects on a person’s life. Examples include sexual or physical abuse, the sudden loss of a loved one, adverse childhood experiences, serious accidents and more.

Some people develop bodily symptoms following traumatic experience/s, such as pains or gastrointestinal disorders. Trauma may also affect sleep patterns and the ability to form close relations, and it may lead to depression, hypervigilance, panic attacks, PTSD/C-PTSD etc.

Therapy can help a person reduce the effects of trauma on their lives as they develop coping strategies and communicating their feelings, needs, boundaries and experiences.

For those who do not conform to prevailing gender norms, the question of identity can be a major concern and counselling can provide a forum for discussing this. Others may feel comfortable with their own identity but fear reactions from family, friends and society at large.

A gender identity such as trans, non-binary or intersex may be part of a person’s lived experience but not necessarily a topic they want to discuss in therapy. It is entirely up to the individual client to decide what they wish to bring up for discussion in their sessions.

Sexuality is often associated with shame, guilt and silencing. A client may wish to discuss sexuality with a therapist with a view to dealing with the effects of sexual trauma, re-establishing a sense of connection with their own body and perhaps the ability to experience erotic pleasure. Others may wish to better understand and embrace their own desires, especially if these diverge from current norms relating to gender, sexuality and relationships.

This may include negotiating in a relationship about issues such as differing desires, boundaries in open or polyamorous relationships, kink, disability, infidelity, cultural or religious norms, ageing, the impact of medication or health problems, sex after childbirth, asexuality or identities such as lesbian, gay, bi- or pansexual.

Relationship difficulties are among the main reasons that people seek counselling. Sometimes clients are concerned with finding a partner, sometimes with problems arising within existing relationships or dealing with separation or divorce. Others may be seeking ways to address problems with family members such as primary carers, siblings or dependents.

Issues in monogamous as well as open or polyamourous relationships can be brought to therapy with the aim of improving communication about expectations and boundaries within the relationship.

The dynamics of close relationships can have a significant impact on one’s wellbeing. Exploring these and your own needs with your counsellor can help you change relationship patterns. Making your needs clearer to others then makes it more likely that they will be met.

Abuse can be defined as treatment of another with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly, and it may take many forms. It may, for example, be interpersonal and take physical, sexual, emotional, psychological forms or be expressed as neglect, abandonment or financial coercion. It may also be social or cultural and takes forms such as discrimination or institutional mistreatment.

Experiences of abuse can have severe and lasting effects on a person’s physical and psychological wellbeing, impacting on their sense of self-worth and security. If you have experiences of abuse, therapy can provide a space to reflect on how it is affecting your daily life, wellbeing and relationships.

If you are facing imminent risk of violence or suicidal thoughts please seek support through these services:

www.samaritans.org/

www.mind.org.uk/

www.womensaid.org.uk/

www.rapecrisis.org.uk/

www.mindout.org.uk/ (LGBTQ+)