Welcome to ISR Counselling

I'm going to take a guess here that this is not the first counselling site you have checked out, in which case, you are probably up to your eyes in "genuine warmth", "safe, confidential spaces", "empathy", "non- judgemental listeners" and "being truly heard". 

Now just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that you won't get these here, but they are not the silver bullets, they are pretty much the bare minimum you should expect from any counsellor.

So how do you choose? Counsellors are generally not big on self-disclosure and for good reason. This process is about you and what you need, but the connection between you and your counsellor will be one of the most important parts of the therapy. So here are the bare bones.

I'm a person-centred counsellor (genuine warmth, safe confidential spaces etc), have been qualified for 2 years and have over 600 hours of therapeutic experience with clients from ages 13 to 60+. I probably have a higher proportion of male clients than my female colleagues, but the majority of my clients are still women or girls.

Person-centred counselling is also referred to as Client-led therapy because after the first 10 minutes of the first session, you set the agenda. I will listen to you, I will not judge you for anything you tell me and I will do my best to understand your world as you see it. If you've done this before however, you may find me a little more direct than you're used to and I will challenge you to see if we can unpick things in a different way. I'm always "Team You" but sometimes that will involve asking the questions you may have been avoiding for a while.

For more on the Person-Centred approach, see below.

Getting Started in 3 easy stages

  1. Reach out by emailing ian@isrcounselling.co.uk. If you can tell me a little about why you are looking at counselling, it might be helpful but it's not essential at this point.
  2. I will mail you back (within 48 hours normally) and we can set up a free introductory call or zoom meeting to help establish if I am a good fit for you. This will normally last about 15 minutes and whilst we may discuss some of your thoughts about therapy, we won't go into details. This is a good opportunity for you ask any questions you may have (see also FAQs here). If you feel that you would like to proceed, we'll arrange an appointment to suit (either face to face or on-line) for your first session. 
  3. In your initial session, we will discuss our working arrangements, boundaries and what you hope to achieve from counselling. We will also go through a short assessment process that will help us to identify any risk factors and areas of particular concern to you. Please note that fees will apply at this point.   

I work from a purpose designed counselling room at my home just next to West Wycombe. There will never be anyone else in the house during sessions and there are private washroom facilities. Parking is off road.

If more convenient, I can see clients at the Youth Enquiries Service in Frogmoor in central High Wycombe. 

I am an on-line certified counsellor and can offer sessions face to face, over video link or a mix of both. 


What can counselling help with?


  • Anxiety
  • Anger issues
  • Bereavement
  • Depression or low mood
  • Intrusive thoughts
  • Low self-esteem
  • Panic
  • Relationship dynamics
  • Stress
  • Suffering Abuse (current or historic)
  • Thoughts of not wanting to be here
  • Trauma 

What is Person-Centred Counselling?


The Person-Centred Approach was developed and researched by Carl Rogers in the USA during the 50s and 60s and is now the most used type of therapy in the western world.

It differs from some other types of therapy in that there is no homework to do, no delving deep into your past (unless that is what you want to do) and concentrates on how you see the world now and how you experience it. 

It is often referred to as Client Led Therapy because we will only ever talk about what you want to bring. This concept comes from two fundamental beliefs that Rogers held. Firstly, 'the client knows what hurts' (even if we don't always know that we know), and secondly that 'every individual has within them the ability to heal themselves', if the therapist can give an environment of genuineness, trust and positive regard to work in. 

What does a typical counselling session look like?

There's not really any such thing as a typical session.We are all unique individuals with a unique set of experiences that have brought us to where we are today and that makes every session unique to you.

If you're not sure where to start, we can explore this together until we find the source of the issue.  

What do you need to know to get started?

If you click on this link, it will take you to a page with more details about how we start out and how to get in touch.

My fees are £60 per session (50 mins) payable by bank transfer 24 hrs in advance. This allows me to hold your appointment for you. 

I work with clients on a long or short term basis.

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