Frequently Asked Questions
I specialise in working with Couples, Bereavement and Autism.
I have had specific training and experience in all three areas.
If you are in Brighton, Moulsecoomb, Lewes, Hove, Portslade, Southwick, Shoreham by Sea, Rottingdean, Peacehaven and Lewes, you can easily access my practice. I am five minutes' walk from Moulsecoomb station and on major bus routes.
Directions - please phone or email me for my postcode in order to use Googlemaps.
My email form is for enquiries about counselling sessions only. I am unable to respond to business-to-business emails.
Higher Bevendean is next to Moulsecoomb, and close to Brighton, Lewes and Hove.
Sessions can be weekly or fortnightly £80 for one hour. All sessions must be paid on the day, bank transfer or PayPal.
I do not offer free first sessions. Sessions which are not cancelled or rearranged at least 48 hours prior will be charged.
I now work in person or online using Skype Zoom or Facetime video, or telephone sessions.
Appointments: 9 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday and sometimes Saturdays.
For an informal chat, please call me on 07429 409336.
'A big thankyou - I can't tell you how much it helped. I feel happier than I have felt in a very long time and more importantly I am not scared to tell people how I feel anymore. I am optimistic about life again and looking forward to every minute of what it has to offer.'C.W.
Frequently Asked Questions
Within the core of each of us is the child we once were. This child constitutes the foundation of what we have become, who we are, and what we will be.” Neuroscientist Dr. R. Joseph.
My professional background
I have been training and practicing psychotherapy and counselling continuously for many years in private practice, in different agencies, clinics and via GP referral.
Qualifications:
Government recognised Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. I am an integrative, person centred counsellor
Graduated in holistic body centred psychotherapy with an Institute in USA after six years of study.
Biodynamic work, Chiron Centre for Psychotherapy
Couple counselling (USA)
Accredited addiction counsellor
College counsellor for young people,
Domestic violence and HIV/Aids.
Ethics/philosophy
Anne Sexton: “It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”
FAQs
Counselling looks at current crises or long standing issues. By engaging someone supportive to work things through we can explore how you became who you are. Psychotherapists help people uncover the reasons for current difficulties, aiming at insight. Insight can lead to change.
A contract is formed to work on issues together without judgment, with honesty, and mutual regard. Clients are encouraged to begin to understand and take responsibility for their own process as soon as they can.
For most people, feeling unduly stressed or unhappy by circumstances we don't feel we can control, when a relationship breaks down or if we reach a stage in life which presents unusual difficulties, life is frustrating, unsatisfying or we are concerned about our own responses to other people and environments.
It is a safe place to discuss difficult emotional feelings, somewhere you can get honest feedback without judgment and where you can get support from a person with whom you have no other practical connections.
We can meet a person who can recognise where you need to go and gently encourage you to stay on track and work with someone who has no personal agendas. It's a process in which another person will regard you as a unique, valuable human being.
Clients make a healthcare contract with a person who can see when they are making enough improvements and let them go mindfully.
It is not a rescue or panacea, and we are not obliged to give practical advice or solutions. It is not a range of 'techniques' to ‘fix’ all ills
It is a facilitation to journey into one's unique self, hopefully to produce enlightenment, acceptance and make better choices.
CHOOSING YOUR THERAPIST
Who can I trust?
Your counsellor should be someone with varied life experience and who is emotionally stable enough to cope with a wide range of distress but also trained and experienced and with whom you can build trust.
Counselling will never be an exact science - it is not a panacea for all life's difficulties.
Will I have to tell the counsellor embarrassing or private things?
You don't have to provide specific details if you don't feel safe enough to do so. Feelings and general responses are more important.
Why should I pay for counselling when I can get it free?
Some volunteers are well trained but being paid ensures we can earn a living and learn and develop to meet the needs of our clients.
How will I know when to finish? You can leave therapy at any time, but we can also end a 'piece of work' together.
People under 16 with serious issues are best seen in family therapy where possible.
Some people think counselling is for people who are mentally unwell, weak, or somehow shameful, but terrible things can happen to anyone, and not everyone can overcome difficult issues alone. I really love and care for the people I work with, and most come to the end of the process very happy that they got up the courage to try. There is often joy and satisfaction in therapy.
We begin to set better boundaries, improve relationships, learn what we can fix and what we can’t, and let go of old wounds and hurts.
Therapy does not mean programming in something that wasn’t there. It is more like uncovering, the layers of stuff we don’t need.
