Specialist Support
Confidence Counselling
BACP accredited counselling to build confidence, in person in Seven Kings, Ilford, and online across the UK. Where self-esteem is about how you value yourself, confidence is about trusting yourself to act. The two often go together, but they are not the same thing.
What You Might Notice
Where confidence tends to fail
Confidence is usually specific rather than general. Most people are perfectly assured in some settings and lose it entirely in others, which is a useful thing to map.
Freezing when it counts
Knowing exactly what you wanted to say and finding it gone the moment attention turns to you.
Over-preparing for everything
Hours of groundwork for something small, because going in without it feels unthinkable.
Putting things off
Delay that looks like laziness from outside but is really about not risking the attempt. If focus itself is the difficulty, this piece on adults being diagnosed with ADHD may be relevant.
Waiting to be found out
Doing the job well and assuming it is a matter of time before someone notices you should not be there.
How Therapy Helps
Building confidence in therapy
The first task is specificity. Confidence problems get described in sweeping terms, and they are almost always narrower than that. Once we know exactly which situations cost you, there is something concrete to work on.
From there the work is largely experimental. Ideas drawn from CBT are useful here: testing a prediction in a small, survivable way, then looking at what actually happened rather than what you expected. Confidence tends to follow action rather than precede it.
We also look at what is underneath. Sometimes low confidence is a reasonable response to a critical environment rather than a flaw in you, and that distinction changes what needs to change.
If the pattern sits more in how you value yourself than in what you dare to do, the self-esteem counselling page is the better starting point.
Practical Details
How sessions work
Sessions last 50 minutes and usually run weekly at the same time, in person in Seven Kings, Ilford, or by secure video anywhere in the UK.
Face-to-face in Ilford
A quiet, discreet ground-floor room at 59 Cameron Road, Ilford IG3 8LG, a few minutes on foot from Seven Kings station, with free off-street parking.
Online across the UK
Secure video sessions if travelling is difficult, or you would simply rather meet from home.
Day and evening slots
Weekdays 9:00am to 2:30pm, plus evening appointments Monday to Thursday, 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
A free first call
Start with a free 15-minute phone consultation before you commit to anything.
Further Reading
Related reading
More across the blog.
Take the First Step
Book a free 15-minute consultation
Start with one situation that costs you most and we will work outwards from there.