Face to face sessions in Newcastle -Under-Lyme. Online sessions nationwide - covering Cheshire and Staffordshire.
Counselling & psychotherapy with me
I offer a highly relational counselling practice which seeks to engage my clients in becoming free from their struggles and able to go forward after therapy finishes with clarity and the ability to solve their own problems to maintain their autonomy, and honour their authenticity.
How are my sessions structured? Therapy is bespoked for the individual client, this is the meaning of working integratively - it's using different theories or approaches either selected or combined to best help the client - I also utilise pluralism which is the concept that different approaches help people at different times of their life or even within the therapeutic process this also helps a collaborative relationship where you are engaged in the process of therapy rather than the view that I 'administer' therapy. We will begin with discussing the reasons you have come to therapy. This will mean looking at your history to see how your past is effecting your present. Collaboratively we will set goals, and decide how you would like to work together during the treatment phase of therapy.
How long will therapy take? It depends on the presentations and issues. We will need the assessment period and also an understanding of what your expectations are from therapy to know better how I can help you. I offer a free initial chat which can give you a better idea and it's also an opportunity to see if what I offer is right for you. I'm happy to work short term, and this may be enough to give you some coping tools to help you to manage your distress. However, to truly resolve what brings you to my counselling page may take a longer period.
Sessions are 60 minutes and usually on a weekly basis at the same time. It's important to keep a good momentum of therapy for it's effectiveness. My fee is £55 online/telephone & £62 face to face. Should someone be unable to attend at their regular time for some unavoidable reason, I will try to reschedule the session if given enough notice. However, due to limited flexibility, this may not be possible and the fee for the missed session will still apply. In the event of being unwell, my death or some other unavoidable reason, I do have an appointed trusted person to make you aware and help with referrals if needed.
This is the belief that all humans can solve their own problems and have the ability to heal/reach their potential given the right environment and guidance.
I use trauma theory to frame the way we work. This is done by using lots of psychoeducation about why you're feeling anxious and depressed. It helps to make sense of, normalise and validate what you're going through.
We will look at your history and how it effects your present. This helps to see patterns in your life/behvaiour that may be unhelpful for you or even helpful.
An exploration of interactions within close relationships, from your childhood and adulthood. How safe you feel in relationships throughout your life can effect you in future relationships. Often where care has been inconsistent, abusive or negligent in childhood, healthy attachments later in life can become difficult to achieve. Therapy is a space to help work through attachment issues which benefit all other relationships.
Exploration of personality through ego states (your inner family/community). This is also known as Inner Child Work and is highly effective in helping clients to connect to the part of them that is closest to the "true self", and rebuild the relationships within you to create balance and holism.
Often the body is holding information and memories that cognitively we don't have the words for. Integrating the body's sensations and responses into our sessions heightens a client's awareness of how they feel in response to their world and others. Infact your body sends more information to your brain than your brain to your body - so helping you to connect with your body is an essential part of therapy.
Living fully and authentically is making choices based on what gives you real meaning and joy. We are all born with our own unique purpose - to discover our purpose we have to make decisions that best align with our own values, but as humans, being attached to others is also a nessacity for overall wellbeing. Quite often people forego their values and what makes them fundamentally happy/at peace to stay attached. Neither is right or wrong, some people value relationships with others over the relationship with themselves - neither is right or wrong and both can be achieved in balance.
I make use of creative ways of working, finding this way grounding for clients who struggle to be present and helpful in exploring processes that cognitively might not yet be available or sufficient enough. Creative ways of working can also be bespoked for the client dependant on their preference of medium. Usually this is done with a focus on parts work, to flesh out different aspects of self to acknowledge those parts. This is to aid integration of memories and needs and to unblend emotional parts of self from the core self. Overall giving a sense of more control over a person's life.
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