Categories: uncategorized
Date: 22 February 2005 19:52:55
Last month I mentioned that I was going to see about getting myself some counselling for a while to work through various stuff that I think I've worked through as much as I can by myself and that now I feel I need someone outside to ask me the right questions and provide some sort of structure to consider the issues in a less random way. Since then I've had nearly as much of a frustrating time trying to find a counsellor as I had a few weeks back trying to find a glazier for my broken window. All the counsellors I've spoken to have been lovely but have been unable to fit me in their schedules, and this morning I phoned the final one who had been recommended. When I got back from work and there was still no reply on the answerphone I thought oh sod this and decided to plough through the Diocesian Directory of Pastoral Care and Counselling. Anyway, I narrowed it down to two people who sounded promising, checked them out on the internet and decided on the one that was most promising of the two, phoned her and I'm seeing her next week for an introductory session to see if we feel that this would work as a therapeutic relationship. She sounded lovely but efficient and that she knew what she was doing (always a good sign!), and as a bonus only lives a few minutes' walk from my house, so I won't have to spend ages stuck in traffic. Here's hoping it works out.
In other news, today I started reading a book about the Diocese of Southwark, which along with the Diocese of Birmingham celebrates its centenary this year. Very interesting stuff, reading about life in south London then and how it (and the church within it) has developed over the last hundred years. It's certainly a very diverse diocese, with deprived inner city parishes and leafy suburbs, as well as all sorts of different cultures and nationalities, and many different styles of churchmanship. That's something I know I'll miss when I move - the culture and diversity - both geographically and in my church life. Although UpNorth is another city with a number of universities, I'm always struck when I go there by how much less diverse it seems than here. That will take some getting used to, and I shall look forward to discovering the more interesting, less conventional parts of town.