Counsellor’s bid to keep working after pandemic
ACOUNSELLOR who set up his own private practice has spoken about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as the Glasgow Times continues to back local business.
Stephen Heller-Murphy said his client numbers have dropped ‘significantly’ during the pandemic.
The 53-year-old explained: “My client numbers have dropped significantly, partly due to moving to video and telephone sessions – and partly due to the economic impact of Covid-19 as people could not afford to continue seeing me.
“I have recently moved back to in person counselling but the number of clients I see has remained low.”
Stephen, who is based in Woodside Place, trained in the 90s as a mental health nurse.
He said: “My career took me from hospital settings into charity work, prison work, addiction policy, research and eventually clinical guidelines development for the NHS.
“I retrained recently as a psychodynamic counsellor and am now self employed.”
He added: “I set up my private practice last September while working as a counsellor for a charity. Since March this year I have solely relied on my private practice work, which has suffered due to coronavirus.”
Initially Stephen had to change how he provided his service offering video and telephone counselling.
Now he is seeing clients in person again but in a safe and socially distance way.
He hopes people back local businesses who are suffering from the effects of lockdown and trying to survive in a pandemic world.
He said: “I offer professional and confidential counselling service. My office is close to the centre of Glasgow and easily accessible by public transport.
“Sometimes we need to speak to someone in a therapeutic way in order to deepen our understanding of ourselves and how we relate to those around us.”
He added: “I offer a safe and confidential space to discuss previous experience and how this might be impacting the present. That may be about relationships, mood, anxiety or other issues like drink or drug use.”
The Glasgow Times is supporting local businesses who are struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic by giving them a chance to tell our readers why they should support them.
We are also running a supplement in the coming weeks which will feature business listings.
You can submit your free business listing here https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/my/ccn/questionnaire/EmYsjeHs/
You can share your story here https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/ my/ccn/questionnaire/mitkRGxY/