Life's Challenges | Path to Well-being

Life’s Challenges

Life brings many challenges, and while we all develop ways to cope, sometimes they no longer feel enough. What does well-being mean to you, and what challenges are you facing?

Counselling offers a safe, supportive space to explore these questions and find new ways forward. Below, you’ll see how counselling can help with some of the most common obstacles life puts in our path.

Anxiety

Anxiety (such as health anxiety or social anxiety) is a type of fear for something that does not represent a real danger or risk. Nevertheless, in our brain the fear is real and it makes us respond in unexpected ways. ACT helps us first of all to accept those responses, and see them as normal. It also helps us build a deep connection with our values to get the most out of life.

Addiction

Addiction is rarely about seeking pleasure — it often begins as a way to escape pain. It is not a matter of weak willpower, but a coping response to deeper struggles. In counselling with Bart, you can gently explore that pain and, through self-compassion and other evidence-based tools, begin to accept and heal from it. Alongside this, practical strategies can help reduce dependency and support you in building healthier ways of coping, whatever the addiction may be.

Depression

Depression can take many forms — from boredom and hopelessness to feeling lost in life. Often, its roots lie in earlier experiences. Understanding where these feelings come from can foster acceptance, a first step toward coping with depression and rediscovering meaning, even when dark thoughts are present.

Emotional or Sexual Abuse

If you’ve experienced abuse, or think you might have, it can be very helpful to talk about it — especially if it feels too difficult to share with loved ones. Abuse can take many forms, from ongoing emotional neglect in childhood to physical or sexual abuse. Exploring these experiences can sometimes help you understand certain behaviour patterns or deep-rooted emotions in the present. A safe, supportive space and a strong therapeutic relationship make it possible to do this safely and at your own pace. Bart’s non-judgemental attitude helps create that safety, and because he works in a person-centred way, you’ll only talk about these experiences when you feel ready. In cases of sexual abuse or intimate partner violence, feelings of shame or self-blame are common and can make it hard to do what’s best for you. Bart helps you make sense of your choices and their implications in your own context, without ever imposing his views.

Grief and Loss

Grief can arise from losing someone close — a loved one, a pet, or someone important who is no longer in your life. It is a process, not something to simply ‘get over.’ Bart often uses Wolfelt’s six needs of mourning, which many find more supportive than the traditional stages of grief. This approach helps you gently recognise and honour the needs you may have suppressed or overlooked, allowing space for healing.

Identity Issues

Being yourself is not always easy when society tries to fit us into conventional molds. You may feel uncertain about your cultural identity, gender identity, or sexuality — or you may know exactly who you are but struggle with acceptance from others. Bart practices an affirmative approach that makes no assumptions about you. Instead, he offers a safe space to explore your identity freely or to work through the impact of discrimination and internalised stigma, so you can move toward greater self-acceptance and confidence.

Relationship Issues

Relationships can be deeply rewarding, but they are also complex and often challenging. There’s no single cause when difficulties arise, though poor communication is a common source of tension — especially when partners come from different cultural backgrounds. Bart works with you to clarify your own goals and values, and how your relationship fits within them. Together, you explore what truly matters to you and identify practical steps to strengthen or rebuild a meaningful connection with your partner.

Stress

Stress touches all of our lives — whether through work, family, school, or health. We all find ways to cope, some healthy, others less so, and at times we may feel we’re not coping at all. Having the chance to talk openly in a safe, non-judgmental space can bring clarity about what truly matters to you. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps build psychological flexibility, so you can handle stressors — even those you can’t control — with greater resilience and balance.

Suicidal Thoughts

Suicidal thoughts can be frightening and overwhelming, especially when they return again and again. You don’t have to face them alone. Many people find it hard — sometimes impossible — to talk about these thoughts with loved ones, for fear of worrying or being misunderstood. Yet sharing what you’re feeling is an important step towards relief and safety. Bart provides a safe, understanding space where you can speak openly without judgement. As a trained mental health counsellor, he can help you explore what lies behind these thoughts, assess the level of risk, and create a personalised safety plan to keep you safe when the feelings become intense. With the right support, hope and stability can begin to return.

Emotions can be very complex when you’re grieving after a suicide loss. Bart’s personal experience with this kind of loss helps him support you with genuine empathy and understanding. Together, you can begin to understand the emotions that were triggered by your loss and find ways towards growth and healing.

If you need to talk to someone immediately, or if you’re concerned that a loved one may be at risk of ending their life, click the Read More button below for information and contacts that can help right now.

Trauma

To quote Bessel van der Kolk, a pioneering psychiatrist and trauma researcher: “Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you.” Your reaction to stressful events — and especially the extent to which you were able to connect with caring people immediately afterwards — largely determines how traumatic those experiences become for you.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is powerful for trauma because it helps you stop fighting your inner experience and instead build a new, compassionate relationship with painful memories, thoughts, and emotions.

Bart is a certified trauma-focused ACT therapist, trained by Russ Harris, and has completed an ACT Bootcamp with Steven Hayes, the founder of ACT, and Robyn Walser. As Harris emphasises, ACT is about learning to “make space for pain” rather than being consumed by it. Walser highlights that ACT allows trauma survivors to reconnect with meaning and values, moving from avoidance to purposeful living. Hayes frames this as developing psychological flexibility — the ability to stay present, open up, and do what matters, even in the presence of fear or pain.