The approach
Accountability without shame.
Restorative Practice treats accountability and understanding as compatible, not opposed. It helps you look honestly at what happened, who was affected - including yourself - and what would actually need to change, without the shame spiral that shuts most men down and keeps them stuck in the same pattern.
A man who is shamed into silence rarely changes anything. A man who understands the impact of what happened, and has somewhere to work through what sits underneath it, has a genuine shot at doing something differently.
Guilt
"I did something that caused harm." A specific, workable starting point - it points at an action, not your worth.
Shame
"I am bad." A dead end. It rarely produces change - usually just silence, defensiveness, or avoidance.
The work
Separating the two, so what you did can be faced honestly - without deciding it makes you irredeemable.
Who this is for
Men carrying something they haven’t properly faced.
This isn’t about how serious what happened was. It’s about whether you’ve had somewhere to actually work through it, rather than carry it alone.
Guilt over how you treated someone
A partner, a child, a friend - a way you behaved, something you said in anger, an affair, a relapse - that you’ve never properly faced or talked through with anyone.
Wanting to repair a relationship
Something has broken down and you want clarity on what happened, what it cost the other person, and what repair would actually require - whether or not that conversation happens directly with them.
Feeling disconnected from your own values
You don’t recognise the way you’ve been acting. The gap between who you want to be and how you’ve actually shown up has become hard to ignore.
Something you’ve never told anyone
A weight you’ve carried alone because saying it out loud felt too exposing. This work is built to hold that conversation without judgement.
How it works
A structure for facing it, not just talking around it.
There’s no script and no requirement to arrive with the right words. The work moves at the pace you bring, with a loose structure underneath to keep it from just circling the same ground.
Chris is an ASIST-trained Suicide First Aider. Shame and guilt can sit close to some very dark places - that conversation is within scope, not outside it.
What happened, and its impact
Naming the specific thing - not a vague sense of being a bad person, but what actually happened and who it affected, including you.
Separating shame from guilt
Moving from "I am bad" to "I did something that caused harm" - a distinction that opens up somewhere to actually work, rather than just feel bad.
The unmet need underneath
What was going on for you at the time - what you needed and weren’t getting, or didn’t know how to ask for - that shaped how you acted.
What repair looks like
With the other person if that’s possible and wanted, or with yourself if it isn’t - and what you’d do differently going forward.
What a session looks like
Ordinary counselling sessions, built around this work.
This isn’t a separate programme - it’s part of the same integrative counselling Chris offers, with Restorative Practice as the lens whenever shame, guilt, or repair is what’s actually in the room.
Some men need one focused conversation. Others need several sessions, or a longer block, to work through what they’re carrying.
Format
50-minute sessions, or a 30-minute check-in. Online (video or phone) or in person in Southport.
Price
From £35 (check-in) to £55 (session). Bespoke blocks of 4+ sessions from £130.
Who delivers it
Chris Brotherton, MNCPS (Acc.) - NCPS Accredited Registrant. Supervised, insured, ICO registered.
How to start
A free 15-minute call to confirm fit, no commitment beyond that.
Commitment
None fixed. Some men need one conversation, others build a longer block - you decide as you go.
What men ask about this work.
Isn’t Restorative Practice just for offending or the justice system?+
What’s the difference between shame and guilt?+
Can this help me repair a specific relationship?+
Referring men on behalf of an organisation, OOCR team, or community safety partnership? See Out of Court Resolution.
Restorative Practice
Start with a free 15-minute call.
No obligation, no commitment to book again after. Just a conversation to work out whether this is the right place to bring what you’re carrying.