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? We will discuss the reasons you have come to therapy and do some history taking. This is important so that we can both begin to see how your past is effecting your present. After a period of assessments we will begin to look at different ways of working together to help resolve the underlying distress, which is more directive but you always have the choice of ways of working for example, we may decide to use nesting dolls to look at different parts of you and how they relate, or do some chair work to help you to process unresolved issues in relationships or as a way to process grief. Some sessions you will lead the way and I will be with what is most pressing for you - this is a humanistic approach with the belief that you know what's best for you and will use the therapy space to reflect on what feels most important at that moment.
Sessions are set in a three phase model, which I find is a safe efficient way of working that allows me to collect as much information as I can to help you in the best way. We will set goals in therapy and decide on the ways we will work that best help you to integrate memories and process traumas, or be with grief that may have become hidden or complicated. Other unresolved material can arise in client work, so we can revise and re-assess as we go. In this way, there is a structure but flexibility. It's worth noting that initially some clients do feel worse in therapy but this will change as you keep coming back, even in the assessment period we are still doing counselling and you will feel your distress eventually alleviating.
The way that I work aims to create collaboration, and peak your own curiosity about yourself and your processes so that you become empowered through reflectivity and autonomous choice making.
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 50 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 £52 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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