Life can be challenging and to the extent it is often difficult to see a way forward. Perhaps you find yourself repeating the same old behaviours and wondering how you managed to get to this point again. Counselling is about being listened to and understood by someone who will be very much with and alongside you. It can be a very powerful experience in helping you to identify, come to terms with, change or heal a situation. It can be thought of as offering a way to gain perspective on behaviour, emotions and relationships and can serve as a means to address pain and loss and can help alleviate anxiety, depression and anger in their many forms. Within this it can also help develop communication skills for dealing with conflict and frustration.
Finding the right counsellor whom you feel able to work with is essential and an important part of the process but I also understand that approaching someone unknown to you to talk about what may be very personal, difficult and often complex concerns can feel quite daunting. As a qualified MBACP counsellor I strive to maintain an empathic, safe relationship within a professional and confidential environment. My objective is always that you feel heard and I will work sensitively with what you bring to our sessions together.
Talking in confidence in this way provides an environment that enables you to express yourself freely and openly in a way not possible with family or friends, which may help you effect the changes you want in your life. I am not here to judge nor to influence but to help you make your own choices and decisions and thereby develop a greater self awareness of the way that you feel, think and behave.
I also understand that everyone is a unique individual and that what works for one person may not work for another. I am able to undertake both short or long term counselling (typically 6-12-18) dependent on individual need and work with a wide range of issues and always from a Person-Centred framework incorporating Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Solution Focused approaches as and where appropriate. This means I aim to meet you as an individual or couple and can tailor your needs accordingly.
I work with a diverse range of issues (see under experience) within a recognised code of ethics (BACP) and from discreet premises accessible to private individuals and couples within the Chester, Cheshire, Wirral and Flintshire catchment areas.
If the idea of face to face counselling is something you feel you would struggle to accommodate, then dependent on your needs, you may be a candidate for telephone counselling which we can discuss on point of contact. I do not offer 'anonymous' telephone counselling but you may expect the same service in terms of confidentiality as any other face-to-face client and may switch between the two at any time.
If you feel counselling might be for you and wish to find out more about me, my service or if you have a more general enquiry about counselling please feel free to make contact. I also works as an affiliate counsellor for Employment Assistance Programmes (EAP's) and welcome all enquiries including referrals from other insurance organizations, charities and health care providers.
Free parking is available for up to 1 hour (at clients risk) directly outside the premises and both the main market car park (providing free parking after 3pm) and Chester City bus station are a short 3 minute walk away.Qualifications & Training
Graduate Diploma in Person Centred Counselling (accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - BACP).
Training in Person Centred Couples Counselling.
Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Training in Solution Focused Brief Therapy.
(Ongoing) MSc Psychological Trauma.
MA Elective course Counselling Young People.
MA Elective course Brief/Short Term Therapy.
Introduction to Gestalt.
Variety of (ongoing) Counselling related Conferences/Workshops.
Access to Humanities and Social Sciences.Experience
In addition to my private practice I have 3 years (ongoing) NHS* experience providing work based Staff Support assessments, counselling and therapy covering both short (6 + 2+) and long term work to employees who otherwise had their lives impacted upon by a wide range of issues including but not limited to stress, anxiety, depression, relationship breakdown, grief, conflict, bullying, abuse and drug and alcohol dependency (*within a non-NHS industrial setting in collaboration with Occ Health & other multi-disciplinary affiliates). I also helped pilot and maintain this same facility to the younger often vulnerable apprentice groups within their college setting and in an attempt to normalize the concept of counselling.
I also work for a local Mental Health charity providing access to psychological therapies via referral for Primary Care users typically presenting with a wide range of issues including but not limited to stress, anxiety, depression linked to unemployment, debt, self esteem, separation, divorce, addictions, bereavement, physical illness and disability
I worked for 2+ years in a voluntary capacity counselling a vulnerable and often marginalised male client group in a homeless hostel presenting with a range of related mental health concerns often linked to drug and alcohol misuse and life following incarceration. I also have NHS (hospital based) experience counselling female clients grappling with a wide range of emotional issues from neonatal deaths, infertility and the aftermath of a decision to terminate a pregnancy.
Prior to counselling I held a variety of public sector roles over the years that put me in direct contact with individuals on a one to one basis which helped me understand the conflicts and pressures modern life and work imposes on us and our relationships.Fees
Initial session/assessment is £25.00, thereafter £35.00-£45.00 per (50 minute) session for individuals and £45.00 for couples and also organisations. Here organisations will be invoiced. I offer concessionary rates for students and those on limited income.
Key words for this entry:
Couples, Individual Counselling, Adults, Elderly, Men, Women, Young, Long-term, Short-term, Single sessions, Time-limited, Concessionary rates, Low-cost sessions, Abortion, Abuse, Addiction, Anger, Anxiety, Attachment, Bereavement, Body image, Bullying, Child Abuse, Commitment, Conflict, Crisis Support, Depression, Discrimination, Divorce, Separation, Domestic abuse, Eating, Gender, Identity, Loss, Self-esteem, Mental Health, Miscarriage, Postnatal Depression, Relationships, Self-confidence, Stress, Unemployment, Workplace, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Integrative, Person-centred, Solution-focused. |
