Christopher Craig

Welcome to my profile and thank you for taking the time to read about how I work. 

What is counselling?

Counselling is a talking therapy and mainly works through understanding your point of view by actively listening and empathising with your experiences. This is done through exploration of thoughts and feelings and not judgement. It is important to feel safe and confidentiality is ensured as part of this. The first sessions are important to establish your goals and expectations. With increases in self-awareness these goals may change and so it is important for us both to be open-minded. Counselling can work in the short-term and the long-term but longstanding behaviours and ways of thinking or feeling may take longer to change.

How do I work exactly?

* I am an integrated counsellor and tailor my counselling approach to the individual.

* I counsel individuals and couples.

* I integrate a number of techniques in my counselling, focusing mainly on the impact of our emotional development and how we react to our past and present experiences. I have an interest in attachment, cognitions and deep-rooted beliefs / values.

* My objective is to focus on any distressing symptoms as soon as possible – while at the same time seek to identify any root causes.

* I am happy to offer counselling with fixed timeframes or budgets as I have experience of using solution-focused techniques that are designed for shorter-term support. These techniques allow us to examine our coping strategies in order to revise them.

* If you are mainly looking to manage stress without needing to work on root causes, I can provide mindfulness coaching to groups and individuals.

Couples Therapy in Carlisle and online across the UK

I work using a narrative approach when I support a couple. This provides a space for each person to tell their story in a co-ordinated, uninterrupted fashion - allowing scope for a broader discussion of what is impacting on the relationship.

I work from an accessible office with reception, parking and waiting area in the centre of Carlisle.

I provide video and telephone counselling if face-to-face is not possible.

The first session is a free assessment to make sure that I am able to provide the support that you require. The service is confidential and any limitations will be explained from the outset.