Jonathan Butterworth,

 BA (Hons), MBACP, MNCPS Acc.

Before becoming a counsellor, I spent many years working as a musician; having been classically trained as a singer and pianist from childhood. My career in music took me to many different places and gave me the opportunity to meet many different people.

Over time I found myself listening to the music of the people I met along the way, as well as the music I was playing. Not just the words of our conversations, but what was underneath.

Conversations would often evolve into deeper subjects, as people would tell me about their daily struggles. Just as it must have felt natural for them to open up to me, it felt natural to me to offer them an empathic ear.

Those moments stayed with me, and gradually led me to train as a counsellor after I stepped away from my music career in 2016.

People often say they find it easy to open up with me. I hold that quietly, as something to be respected rather than assumed.

For me, being a counsellor has always been about offering a steady presence — somewhere you can take your time, and know that you don’t have to carry things alone.