Imani Counselling

Counselling Approach

My Counselling Approach


I am an Integrative Counselling practitioner which means that I draw on a variety of counselling approaches/therapies (Person-centred,Art therapy,Cognitive Behavioural, Psychodynamic and Inter-cultural) to suit the individual needs of my clients.

I feel that in counselling one is searching for the meaning of life; that life is a classroom and we are all here to learn certain lessons. Life isn’t supposed to be easy. It is designed to be challenging so that we all grow into more conscious human beings. However, growth is usually not a comfortable experience. It can be scary and painful but necessary in order to give "birth" to something new.

Growth always costs us something. To experience real happiness, you must first connect with why you feel what you feel even when that’s painful. Pain is information: it leads you to what is keeping you from becoming your best self. My belief is that obstacles won’t dissolve until they teach you what they came to teach you.

Given my belief that we are all students in the Class of Life, I choose not to see myself as an expert, but agree with Irvin Yalom who feels that “the patient and therapist are “fellow travellers” in therapy – they’re both human beings dealing with essential problems of existence and must work cooperatively to solve them” .

My definition of a good working relationship is one in which you the client experiences me as non-judgemental,warm,transparent,empathic. I aspire and strive to bring out the best in you and the only way this can truly happen is through your trust and faith in me.

Although I am a professional counsellor, I still strive to be "myself" in the way that I work and who I am. I hope that my being "real" with you will help you feel relaxed with me that you even dare to take some risks in order to achieve your happiness and fulfilment.

I encourage you to listen to that small voice within you - your `inner teacher’ in order that you receive your `in-tuition’ so as to foster greater self-reliance. By allowing you the opportunity to look inward and listening to your heart, I will help you to come up with your own `soul’utions . By becoming more wise, truthful and insightful, you will become more powerful. As you learn new inner skills to manage your life more effectively, you are empowering yourself!

Creative Interests

As a counsellor, I like to work creatively and offer clients the opportunity of doing so through such mediums as journal writing, poetry, art, film, music and creative writing. These tools can be powerful in that they can help to express and unearth deep, painful and difficult emotions in counselling.

An example of my use of the creative arts as therapy can be read in an article by Will Hatchett entitled "An ethnic minority dance project sets out to tackle alcoholism" which explored the use of dance movement therapy in my organisation. The article was published by Community care magazine (29/08/07)and can also be found on-line.


Benefits of counselling can include

finding your voice

enhanced relationships

identifying and breaking unhealthy patterns

peace of mind

personal growth

loving yourself

finding your passion

a better work/life balance

the end of procrastination

unblocking areas in your life where you feel stuck