A NEW columnist joins shuttleXtra this week to bring his counselling skills to online readers.

John Sayer is 46 and has lived in Kidderminster for 10 years.

He has a background in finance but changed his career direction six years ago and qualified as a counsellor with a Higher Diploma last autumn at Kidderminster College.

He has been working as a voluntary practice counsellor at Hagley Surgery for more than two years and is a fully qualified member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

His role at the surgery has been to deal with basically any type of issue such as depression or bereavement, and also to know when and how to refer an individual to a specialist.

He has significant experience both at the surgery and in his private work with clients and has worked with individuals, couples, families and also runs various workshops for small groups.

He will be giving readers an insight into counselling with his weekly column and will be providing advice on dealing with aspects of 21st century life such as stress, depression, loss and bereavement, poor self-esteem, loneliness, coping with long-term illness and coping with work pressures.

John is unable to enter into correspondence with readers but if you have a question or would like him to cover a particular issue, please fill in the comment box below each column.