Anton Nikoloff Counselling Kaiapoi Christchurch

I mainly counsel adults, as individuals or as couples. The following are typical of the concerns I regularly deal with:

• Developing communication skills and assertiveness
• Coping with death and dying
• Depression, grief and loss
• Developing skills to control stress and anxiety
• Conflict and negotiation skills
• Coping with harassment and bullying
• Improving relationships and sexual functioning
• Anger management
• Spirituality
• Parenting
• Healing and recovery from trauma and abuse

I have successfully counselled children aged 12 years and older, but it is not my area of specialty.

I can provide referrals to other health professionals.

• Alcohol or drug addictions
• Counselling psychiatrically disturbed people
• Counselling young children

Anton Nikoloff

I think that most people want to feel whole, and have a sense of integrity and peacefulness with themselves and with others. The focus of my work is to help my clients develop skills, thinking and self awareness that will enable them to improve their relationship with themselves and others.

I work from a Person-Centred counselling perspective, in which the quality of the relationship between client and counsellor is important; it is mostly the dynamics of the counselling relationship that enable the client to make the changes that they need. Along with that I use a Narrative counselling approach, which means that I am curious to hear and explore the stories about a person’s life that haven’t been told, and which might suggest an alternative perspective on their concerns. As a consequence I often ask questions about things that at first seem unimportant, or a client may have overlooked. A narrative counselling approach also means that I am interested in power, the use of power and the effect it has on a person's life. Person-Centred and Narrative counselling approaches are complimentary in that they place the client and their needs at the centre of the counselling work.

I consider it important that I give my clients tools and help them develop skills to change whatever they want in their lives. So I use what I consider to be the most appropriate counselling approach or tools for a particular client.

The following is a summary of some of the other counselling approaches I use:

I occasionally use Rational Emotive Behaviour counselling therapy to help clients explore how they think and what they believe about themselves, and the world they live in. To complement Rational Emotive Behaviour counselling therapy, I use some ideas from Cognitive Behaviour counselling therapy, which assumes that a person’s emotions and thinking interact to produce their behaviour. Thus changing a person’s emotional response, or their thinking, can lead to a change in behaviour.

In working with people that have experienced abuse or trauma I frequently use counselling ideas and techniques developed by Dr John Briere and Dr. Colin Ross, Mike Lew and Wendy Maltz.

For work with couples I use many counselling ideas developed by Dr. John Gottman and associates.

I try to work as holistically as I can with my clients and so I am very interested in spirituality and a person’s sense of being connected to something larger than themselves. As part of that counselling work, when appropriate, I can help clients explore and develop some understanding of their dreams.

I frequently offer reading material, or suggest videos or audio tapes that I think might be helpful.

I occasionally video, or record counselling sessions to help my clients develop a new perspective on themselves and their situation.