Novo Counselling

Couples Counselling is an effective way to help you feel better about your relationship. Couples Counselling allows you to deal with any negative feelings or behaviours you have within your relationship and helps to overcome your issues. It’s a talking therapy that allows you to talk about your problems and feelings together in a secure, supportive and dependable environment.

Mediation is simply communicating with your former partner about finances, children, housing and anything else that needs to be resolved with the help and support of an impartial and specially trained mediator. Typically it happens over a number of sessions in one of our comfortable and relaxed rooms.

It’s not about reconciling or providing counselling, and it isn’t about deciding who’s to blame either; your mediator is impartial and it’s their job to help you focus on the current arrangements and agreeing how you’re going to live your lives separately.

There are many reasons to try mediation with Novo Counselling, but here are just some:

+ It’s positive and constructive, looking to the future not the past.
+ You’re part of the conversation and agreement, not the judges and barristers.
+ You’ll probably also have significantly lower legal costs.
+ You can reduce hostility and improves the chances of long term co-operation.
+ It focuses you on the children and causes them less stress.
+ It helps you to agree your finances going forward.
+ It’s direct communication, not via solicitors.
+ It can be a lot quicker; you control the pace not the court.
+ Hopefully it will help reduce the negativity and avoid unnecessary problems.

Traditionally when separating and thinking about divorce you would go to a solicitor. These days the system is different and the current view is that it’s better for most separating and divorcing couples to go to mediation and leave the courts with a lesser role. This reflects a simple truth that for many people the court process takes far too long, is far too expensive and often results in a less than satisfactory experience for the whole family.

Recent Government studies stated that:

+ Mediation takes an average of 110 days compared with 435 for similar court cases. The cost per client for mediation is about £535 compared with £2,823 when going to court. Nearly two thirds of couples who attended a single mediation session for a child dispute reached a full agreement.
+ Almost seven out of every ten couples who opted for mediation reached an agreement.

We’re here to help! We’re not solicitors and we like to think we’re a little different. We’re professional, ethical and efficient but we never lose sight that it’s your choice, your life and your family. We offer you comfort and security whilst supporting you through what can be a very emotional and challenging time.

Family life can be a place of safety and comfort but sometimes for some it can be challenging, painful and disappointing. Modern life and expectations provide stresses and strains and inevitably we’ll bring them into the family but often some of our stresses come from within our family. Family issues can become entrenched and more painful because we expect our family to be a place of safety and comfort. Sometimes a problem can take hold of a family and there seems to be no clear way forward. At other times changes within the family leave other members confused and angry or hurt. One member the family might feel the impact more and this can cause a severe strain on them.

Family counselling encourages conversations between members of the family with the support of a specially trained and experienced Family Counsellor. A family counsellor is neutral and encourages the family not to blame or judge. This allows the family to talk about the problems and their concerns which can then allow the family change.

Counselling for children and young people involves helping to develop a positive attitude to life, how to recognise personal strengths and how to express feelings and emotions. It does not involve making decisions for the child, imposing beliefs on them or preaching.

Child related issues may include:

+ Family and step-family relationships
+ Challenges at school
+ Anger Management
+ Friendships and relationships
+ Bullying
+ Bereavement and grief
+ Emotional problems
+ Behavioural problems
+ Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Children and Young People can experience a broad range of issues and emotional challenges that they’re not equipped to deal with. Counselling can really help.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of Counselling that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. Like all Counselling CBT doesn’t remove your problems, but it does help you deal with them in a more positive way. It is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aims to help you crack this cycle by breaking down overwhelming problems into smaller parts and showing you how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel. Unlike some other talking treatments,Cognitive Behavioural Therapy deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy differs from many other form of Counselling because it is:

+ Pragmatic – it helps identify specific problems and tries to solve them
+ Highly structured – rather than talking freely about your life, you and your Counsellor will discuss specific problems and set goals for you to achieve
+ Focused on current problems – it is mainly concerned with how you think and act now rather than attempting to resolve past issues
+ Collaborative – your Counsellor will not tell you what to do; they will work with you to find solutions to your current difficulties