Talk It Thru Counselling
Ballymena Based Counsellor Covering County Antrim
Welcome to Talk It Thru Counselling
in Ballymena, County Antrim
Explore life’s problems where you can be truly heard and understood
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
Jim Rohn
Talk It Thru Counselling
Hello and welcome to my website.
I’m Patricia McLaughlin however everyone calls me Pat!
As a qualified Integrative Counsellor/Therapist and a registered member of the BACP I offer short and long-term counselling/therapy to adults over the age of 18 years old.
Are you feeling anxious, stressed, burnt out, depressed, perhaps have low self-confidence, or maybe a past traumatic event is still troubling you, or is it something else?
Is your sleep, work, health, friendships, relationships and family life suffering as a result of what is bothering you?
Do you feel no one understands you, leaving you lonely, stuck, filled with confusion and self-doubt, and not living your life to the fullest?
If you feel you could benefit from addressing your problems and understanding yourself better, I am offering you a friendly, safe, confidential, non-threatening, compassionate and judgement-free space to talk through your thoughts and whatever is troubling you.
I will, alongside you, at your own pace, help guide you towards a more balanced, happier way of living, helping you achieve your preferred goals to become who you want to be, or at least view your concerns from a different perspective!
I’m here to help!
Who I can offer counselling to
I offer counselling sessions for adults aged 18+ and aim not to discriminate or judge any individual based on their sexual identity, race, colour, culture, disability or beliefs, etc.
Instead, I offer you a space free of judgment, with warmth, compassion, understanding, and acceptance, allowing you to freely explore your thoughts, feelings, and whatever you wish to bring.
See the issues I can help you with, and if not listed please feel free to contact me as I want to help you!
Issues I can help with
- Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- Low Mood/Depression
- Stress
- Work issues
- Burn Out
- Grief/Loss
- Trauma
- Sleep issues
- People pleasing
- Perfectionist
- Self-Worth
- Confidence issues
- Family relationships
- Parenting
- Post-Natal Depression
- Mid-life & Menopause
- Later years
Take the first step
There is no doubt about it, life can be difficult at times. Based on my professional training, previous career in caring, and my lived experience, I invite you to work alongside me at your own pace in a calm, supportive, and caring capacity, believing that together we can help you find your way forward in life.
“It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
George Eliot
My Approach to Counselling and Support
Believing each of us is unique and that one size does not fit all, as an integrative, trauma-informed counsellor, I will blend tried-and-tested methods such as Person-Centred, CBT, and Psychodynamic techniques, and, where necessary, use researched trauma models. I will also incorporate a holistic approach that considers mind, body, and spirit to support your counselling journey.
My belief is that at the heart of healing is a genuine human-human relationship, and our counselling work together will be based on this principle
My location
I work from Cullybackey and Ballymena which allows me to offer counselling face-face to clients from across County Antrim and from anywhere throughout Northern Ireland.
Telephone and online counselling sessions are also available.
Sessions & fees
Whilst I offer both short and long-term counselling, sometimes only a few sessions may meet your goals and needs. You may end counselling sessions at any time without any obligation.
Counselling works best if it is weekly or fortnightly; however, I will be led by what suits your needs best.
Our work together will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure you are getting what you want from it.
The cost is £45 per 50- 60-minute session, payable by Bank Transfer, PayPal, Cheque or Cash.
In certain circumstances, I can offer concessions at my discretion, for example, an unemployed status or student counsellors. Please ask.
Get in touch
Before committing to counselling, I offer a free, confidential 20-minute phone call to explore your reasons for considering counselling and help us both decide whether I am best suited to work with you. If I am not best suited to help, I can point you to another counsellor for your consideration. You may reach me by phoning 07546 075205 or through the contact form opposite.
If you decide to continue, the first couple of sessions will be a more in-depth discussion of your problems, your goals, what you hope will be different after counselling, and how I work.
If you have not received an email response from me within 48 hours, please check your junk mail.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
“People are just as wonderful as the sunsets if you let them be.
When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying,
“Soften the orange a bit on the right-hand corner.”
I don’t try to control a sunset.
I watch with awe as it unfolds.”
Carl Rogers
“I will not rescue you.
For you are not powerless.
I will not fix you.
For you are not broken.
I will not heal you.
For I see you in your wholeness.
I will walk with you through the darkness.
As you remember your light.”
Sheree Bliss Tilsley
FAQ
Counselling is a form of talking therapy. It is offered in a safe, caring, non-judgmental space, allowing you to talk through whatever problems you are facing and express your thoughts and emotions. Its purpose is to help you understand yourself better, develop coping strategies, and, overall, improve your mental and emotional well-being. I will work alongside you at your own pace and won’t tell you what to do. Instead, helping you empower yourself to make your own choices and decisions, or at least to view your difficulties from a different perspective.
Yes, counselling sessions are confidential.
However, there are limits, and confidentiality must legally or ethically be broken in specific situations if, for example, there is a risk of harm to yourself or another person.
I prioritise confidentiality and follow the BACP ethical guidelines.
Additionally, any data and information collected during your counselling sessions will be kept to a minimum and stored securely and confidentially in accordance with the GDPR (2018).
I am also registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent watchdog that protects your personal data privacy and ensures public bodies are transparent.
Where possible, the counselling agreement, which addresses confidentiality, will be sent to you prior to your first counselling session for your perusal, and part of our first session together will involve discussing confidentiality and its limits in more depth.
It can be daunting to come to counselling for the first time; however, it is an opportunity for us both to get a sense of how we might work together. I will be able to explain more about counselling, how it works, and discuss and provide clarity on the counselling agreement, including confidentiality and its limits.
It is also an opportunity to discuss any practical arrangements such as frequency of sessions.
You will have an opportunity to ask questions and talk about what has brought you to counselling, bearing in mind that you do not have to tell me everything, only what feels comfortable for you at this stage.
Together, we can look at what you hope to achieve from counselling and set initial goals which may change as counselling progresses.
It is also a chance for you to get a feel for whether we are suited to each other, bearing in mind you are under no obligation to continue with further sessions.
As a fully qualified integrative counsellor, I offer Person-Centred Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Psychodynamic Therapy. I am also qualified to offer a Trauma-Informed Approach.
Person-centred therapy, my main way of working, puts you, the client, as the expert on your own life. In effect, it means that I don’t direct you or offer you advice; instead, I help you to understand yourself better with the counselling relationship based on me, the counsellor, showing empathy, acceptance and being genuine and authentic towards you, allowing you to find out what you consider is important to you and based on that you can make your own choices and decisions in life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a more collaborative approach, with us working together to identify specific problems and set goals for what you wish to achieve. CBT, in other words, can help you identify unhelpful thinking patterns and associated behaviours so that you can manage difficulties more easily and, in turn, improve your well-being. Reframe thinking by catching it, challenging it, and changing it.
Psychodynamic Therapy helps clients understand how past experiences, relationships, and unconscious patterns might be influencing their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in the present day. The idea behind psychodynamic therapy is not just to manage symptoms but to understand the underlying causes so that lasting change can occur.
Trauma–Informed Approach, to be very clear, is not the same as Trauma Therapy, whose main focus is to work directly with traumatic memories using specific methods, for example, EMDR.
Instead, the Trauma-Informed Approach is less interested in the traumatic event and more focused on how it has affected your nervous system, sense of safety, behaviour and coping mechanisms. It asks, “What happened to you?” “Instead of “What’s wrong with you?”
The goal behind a trauma-informed approach in counselling, then, is to avoid re-traumatisation by creating a safe, trustworthy, collaborative and empowering environment.
There is no set answer to this question as the decision is entirely yours.
Some clients need only short-term counselling, whereas others require long-term counselling.
Clients usually know within themselves when they feel able to cope without regular counselling and are not tied into or contracted to attend more than they want.
Sessions last 50-60 minutes; however, the duration can be adjusted to suit your preferences and time constraints.
It is usual, at least at the beginning of counselling, to attend weekly to build a counselling relationship and for added support with your difficulties; however, I never enforce this, and you are free to decide how often or how little you attend counselling.
Each counselling session lasting 50-60 minutes is charged at £45 and may be paid by Bank Transfer, PayPal, Cheque, or Cash.
It is preferable that payment be made no later than 24 hours following a counselling session.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before a session, you will be obliged to pay half of the agreed rate.
Concessions are available at my discretion only for specific categories, for example, the unemployed, those on low income or student counsellors. Please contact me for further information.
I offer individual counselling to adults from the age of 18 years upwards, and aim not to discriminate against any individual based on their sexual identity, race, colour, culture, disability or beliefs.
If you need to cancel or reschedule a counselling session I ask for at least 24 hours’ notice less than this will incur half the cost of the counselling fee.
If you have any queries or unanswered questions, feel free contact me.
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