Counselling in Central London - Camden
Glen Gibson - counsellor London
Dip. Counselling, MA Psychotherapy, Dip. Psychotherapist

Having an impartial perspective, I aim to bring clarity and sensitivity to my work with warmth, humour and fresh insight, together with my passionate beliefs of self-determination and responsibility.

My affirming approach is also to be alongside you, and the issues you bring to counselling, so the choices you make, enrich rather than limit life. As a counsellor I hold the view that each person takes responsibility for the way they use therapy in their life, so the outcome is in the individual’s hands.

Entering into counselling is no small step and becomes a commitment for both of us ...

At the beginning my role is to listen and to assess why you have come, what you might need and how I can help. I usually ask a lot of questions to find out about your life now, your issues, who you are and a little about your past. Alongside the current issues you bring to counselling, we may look at where you’d like to be, and what stops you to getting there, so far.

We are all hampered by how the limits of language, don't quite explain the full depth of our experiences and my role is to find out about you and the way you do things - your modus operandi. Therefore, my initial approach as a counsellor is to get to know you and for you to develop a greater understanding of yourself in a safe, confidential, supportive and jargon-free environment - a space for you to explore what you want to explore and say the things that for some may be hard to say. For the range of issues go to Counsellor Session Details, Issues / Symptoms

Therapy will includes making connections to how you feel, think and act in your life. Working at your own pace, I offer guidance and support so fresh ways of seeing yourself, the options and making choices become available.

I recognise that no one theory holds the truth, and that deep and lasting change is possible at any stage of life. Counselling is not a medical treatment or an exact science, we are infinitely complex with many possibilities, and I do not hold a “one size fits all” approach. No one is a stereotype and because we are different, what works for many people does not work for everyone. My experience and training as counsellor includes creatively working with a range of approaches and strategies. Most people have found that our way of working together and the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the most important factor.

In normal social life it is unacceptable to express all our feelings and tell everyone about our experience - even with our closest friends and family. Our suffering can feel almost unbearable to ourselves or others. Even with people we trust, limits are usually set in what we say or are prepared to hear, restraining what we disclose about ourselves. Therefore, many people value professional help by talking to a counsellor as someone independent, not directly connected, who isn't too close and can hear you without a vested interest or preconceptions. Receiving a different response and perspective to what is usual in life can also be significant. Many people view counselling as a supportive resource, just as acceptable as learning about diet and physical health.

As a counsellor I have both a professional and human approach, which is not just "symptom" related, focusing not so much on techniques or analysis and more about curiosity, exploration and reflection, providing an external perspective, helping to shed light upon the obstacles in your life, so insights can be gained to change the areas you want to change or manage your life differently. My approach here can be to offer a mirror, reflecting back how I experience you, so you may be able to see more of yourself and focus upon the important areas in your life. Some people come to therapy experiencing their life being like a jigsaw, and I see my role as helping make sense of the whole picture with the separate pieces, including any redundant, new or missing ones.

My role is to support you in discovering not only your external sense of yourself - what you do and would like to do, but also your internal sense of yourself - your home truths, who you are and what you may become.

I value each person's uniqueness and respond in an individual way to your circumstances, and at the same time appreciate what we human beings hold in common - that beneath our differences are fundamental shared experiences and concepts, that the human heart and suffering are universal. I welcome and respect people's diversity. My experience includes working with men or women, old or young, who are straight, bisexual, lesbian or gay, white, black or mixed race, of many nationalities and cultures, those who are religious, hold spiritual beliefs, atheist or agnostic. What I have found clients value the most is feeling comfortable with the therapist.

For some people, knowing that they will be seeing a counsellor on a regular basis can help relieve the sense of being on their own with their dilemmas or difficulties. This can help to manage their life more easily.

One key aim of counselling is to assist people in managing any transitions in their life. Another aim is to help a person to talk about emotions and thoughts that they may not have been able to express before, or address important matters they have put off, which always seem to return. New perspectives may emerge. Therapy also helps enable people to manage difficult feelings, without avoiding them or acting them out. This can bring a sense of relief, so we can understand our current situation. Counselling is also about freeing ourselves, moving away from what we don't want, towards what we do want. My role as a counsellor may include supporting people to gain and maintain pleasure in life, despite the difficulties life brings.

Some problems may have started off small and have begun to snowball. A further aim of counselling is to reflect upon the effect of "water that has flowed under your bridge" so far, and explore what this might mean for you now. Holding that each of us are more than the impact of our history, we’ll look at what works in your life, what doesn’t and why some problems may continue. This may include unpicking the meanings you have made in your life, exploring what matters in your life, your feelings, beliefs, the way you perceive reality and fears as well as your hopes, dreams, imagination, aspirations and values. So a further benefit of counselling can be becoming more aware of your own actions & reactions and how you make up your mind to act. We will also explore how the role of determination and volition (the act of willing) plays in your life. For some their source of motivation may seem locked away, and for others - present, yet not fully utilised.

Counselling can also provide the opportunity to look at the obstacles in our life, those we are conscious of and others we are not. This may include exploration of your old patterns, habits or traits that maintain stuckness or suffering. The therapy here can include exploring the dynamics of your own personality and maintaining cycles - how you re-create situations; looking at what’s in your control, what’s reactive, what’s choice. With new insight we can understand our life differently, and a new meaning may emerge.

One common obstacle may be how we interpret our conscious and unconscious belief systems, where we may mistake our personal view as the reality. We may also assume that a crisis is negative, because it is difficult and painful. However, it may also be a sign that needs paying attention to, and opportunity for change. An aim of the counselling here may be to explore with you the source and wisdom of your core belief systems and the "domino effect" of such beliefs.

Some difficulties may never go away entirely, yet how we manage them and our attitude and relationship to them can change. (Paradoxically, as we feel better, or make different meanings, the problem may not be so dominating.) There may be something worthwhile you want that’s not working; how you see yourself getting there and the journey itself may also be important. Besides resolving or accepting conflicts, the process of therapy is successful when we are freer to choose, living our lives less automatically, resourcing our own strengths, clarity of thought, free will and inner wisdom, living a fulfilling life.

A further challenge may be a need to feel more authentic or living life from our core self, a place that is calm and centred, less affected by external influences. Therefore a further aim of therapy may be to assist you in developing & building a deeper sense of yourself - your own centre, able to self reflect and utilise your awareness, with the ability to make choices and act.

Therapy can offer guidance in resolving conflict and solving problems. Everyone, universally, has some ingrained ways of relating, so in a sense the focus and benefits of counselling are always about relationships with:

Our partner - see Relationships

Others - parents, siblings, children, friends, peers, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbours, authority

Ourselves - our internal relationship, how well we understand and manage our own feelings and emotions (eg. anger, anxiety, stress, fear, depression, sadness, intimacy, loss, guilt, shame, sexual desire) alongside how we feel about our body and the life we've led so far

Another key aim of counselling is to help improve your greater wellbeing, exploring how you look after yourself and others, and how you don't. The experience of therapy can help enable us to be more accepting of ourselves, others, and life's limitations.

The process of counselling is further outlined in the section
Our Life Now

My interest in therapy developed in 1982. I have completed 7 years training in psychosynthesis counselling and psychotherapy in London, drawn to it because it was described as a psychology of the soul.

My training combined the physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, and spiritual aspects of a person and help me gain a broader understanding of myself and others. I realised that some things come naturally in life and other things need to be learnt.

As qualified Counsellor and Psychotherapist, in my practice I bring together over twenty-five years experience of working with people at points of change in their lives, both in the voluntary sector and privately. Over this period I have valued listening to people’s life stories. I acknowledge and aspire to share what I have learnt from others.

Accountable to their codes of practice and ethics, as a counsellor and psychotherapist I hold registration with the main UK counselling and psychotherapy professional and regulatory bodies, namely:
United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) - I am a Registered UKCP Counsellor - a national body of psychotherapists and psychologists
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) - I am a Member and Accredited BACP Counsellor - a national body of psychotherapists, counsellors, and psychologists
National Council of Psychotherapists (NCP) - I am a registered member of NCP - a national association of psychotherapists in private practice
Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners (AHPP) - I am an Affiliate Member of AHPP - an organisation of humanistic psychotherapists, counsellors, and psychologists

Alongside self-referrals and personal recommendation from clients, I accept referrals from GPs, law firms & employers, other counsellors, psychotherapists & professionals. Potential clients will be offered an assessment as soon as possible. They will need to have an interest in thinking about themselves and desire to change.

I charge a set fee and I have a limited number of reduced rates for those on a low income. It is usual for the full fee to be charged for missed sessions.

My Counselling and Psychotherapy practice is based in central London, Camden Town. It has a range of easily accessible and frequent tube, bus and rail services with available parking nearby.

For more details, or to arrange an initial introductory consultation for Counselling or Psychotherapy in London, Camden Town, telephone Glen Gibson on 020 7916 1342. If no one is available to speak to you, please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If I am unable to see you or you would prefer to see a counsellor closer to you, I am able to put you in touch with other Counsellors or Psychotherapists throughout London.

If you are contacting me by email, it would help if you said a little about why you are seeking counselling.

During the initial session you will be encouraged to talk about why you have come in order to assess your needs. By the end of this initial assessment, if counselling is suitable and we feel comfortable working together, further booked sessions can be arranged. If this is not the case, a discussion will usually take place as to what other alternative therapy or assistance in London may help. Please note, for relationship / marital concerns I only see individuals who want to explore or work through their own issues, I don't see couples.

People may come to counselling with an infinite number of issues, including fear, sadness, depression, anxiety, stress, anger management, abuse, guilt, shame, self confidence, self-esteem, loss, grief, bereavement, intimacy, sexual desire, relationship, marriage guidance, and a whole range of wider concerns. For a comprehensive outline of symptoms I work with and session details see Counsellor Session Details, Issues / Symptoms