Psychotherapeutic
Counsellor in Cornwall
I have a background in the Arts and developed an interest in therapeutic work through my involvement in mental health. I hold a strong belief in the connection between the creative process, our feeling self and our need for self-expression. I find imagery and visualisation a useful means of accessing deeper issues that may be beyond words.
I have a particular interest in working with people suffering from bereavement or loss and people whose lives have been effected by early relational trauma.
What is Counselling
Counselling and Psychotherapy seek to change the client’s relationship to their distress and the therapist’s role is to facilitate this process of personal change.
Counselling can help to identify and resolve difficult feelings, entrenched beliefs and negative ways of coping that undermine our health, self-esteem and ability to develop and sustain meaningful and supportive relationships with others.
Counselling encourages greater self awareness and expansion of self-knowledge allowing the inherently healthy and wise element, centrally present in each of us, to become more apparent and powerful.
How I Work
I value the Humanistic approach, and respect Rogers’ core conditions of congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard. I work in an integrative way, honouring my initial psychodynamic training as well as my experience of Core Process, an approach based on Buddhist philosophy that acknowledges the connectedness of mind, body and spirit, and the structure and theory of personality development learnt from Transactional Analysis.
I hold the intention of meeting each person with equanimity and respect so that there builds a quality of trust in the relationship. I believe this relationship is of paramount importance in the work of therapy and can be supported by a quality of mindfulness that brings awareness and presence to how we are impacted on and responding to each moment.
I offer a safe, confidential space where people can tell their story and express difficult feelings that may have been long suppressed; a space to take some time to look at specific issues as well as to explore deeply held beliefs and malaise that undermine a sense of well-being and personal growth.
I believe that unsatisfactory early attachment experiences are often the cause of imbalance and disharmony felt in later life and that seeking understanding through listening to the inner child can bring healing.
I work within a collaborative alliance created to help the person achieve more freedom and personal dignity in their process towards individuation.
Sessions last for one hour and normally take place once a week. Therapy can be undertaken on a short or longer term basis depending on a person’s needs. Progress is reviewed regularly and confidentiality is observed at all times.
I have been a full member and adhere to the UKCP Ethical Principles and Code of Professional Conduct. However I am no longer a member.
Fees
I offer the initial session free of charge to give the opportunity to meet and discuss expectations and individual needs. Thereafter, if we contract to work together I have a standard fee of £40 per 1 hour session, but this is negotiable for those on a low income.
Who Can Benefit
Absolutely Anyone!
We may be confused, depressed or scared about how we feel and find it difficult to talk to family or friends.
People come to counselling for many reasons includiing anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, bereavement or other losses, difficulty adjusting to life changes, traumatisation, eating disorders, obsessive behaviours, loss of sense of self or loss of meaning in life.
Whatever the reason for coming, counselling can assist a person towards a more effective functioning in a world that is experienced as less mystifying, less harmful and more pleasurable.
Qualifications and Training
- Diplomas in Counselling
- Certificate in Contemporary Trauma Practice
- Foundation in Art Psychotherapy
- Foundation in Core Process Psychotherapy
About Myself
Having trained as an artist, visual images and self-expression have always been an important part of my life and I invite the creative process to be present in my work with clients. This does not mean that I expect people to ‘do’ art ! Rather I am curious and intrigued by what can arise out of a session or through a person’s process. The phenomenalogical is always meaningful.
Through an involvement in mental health I have become interested in working in a non-medical way with people’s experience of voice hearing and unusual beliefs and for nine years have been facilitating the North Cornwall Hearing Voices Group.
I have a strong connection to nature and walking on the moor with my dog is how I find peace and calm when life unbalances me.
I live 8 miles west of Launceston and see people at home on weekdays and some evenings.
Contact
If you’d like to make an enquiry, please get in touch by telephone.
Telephone: 01566 86293 if I am unable to answer, please leave a message on the answerphone.
Location: I live 8 miles west of Launceston and I see people at my home on weekdays and some evenings.
