ABSTRACT
As primary care realizes that patients’ emotional well-being and mental health are as important as their physical health, it has become clear that there is a huge need in this area. Many general practices (GP) have recognized the importance and relevance of counselling in primary care and have set up a service for their patients; in doing so they have come to see how widespread are emotional distress and psychological problems. The GP surgery represents the hurly-burly of real life on the pavement. Time limit in GP counselling can be very valuable, not only as a response to demand, but perhaps more significantly as a way of setting boundaries within which a safe place can be created so that the patient and counsellor can take the risk of working at considerable depth and can focus on the areas where there is the possibility of meaningful change.
