Libby Webber, Dip H.E (Counselling), B.A (Hons), MBACP

Southsea
Hants
PO5 		Libby Webber, Dip H.E (Counselling), B.A (Hons), MBACP
07881 623 081
www.southseacounselling.co.uk
Click here to Email me

Profile

How do you choose a counsellor? Perhaps it's their qualifications, perhaps it's their photo on the page. What's most important is finding someone you feel you can talk to.

My training is in integrative counselling; this enables me to draw on several theoretical ideas and methods of working in order to find the 'best fit' for you as the client. I see my role as a collaborative one - working alongside you, with both of us figuring out how to fit the pieces of life's jigsaw back together. I draw on all of my experience to help individuals to work out their difficulties and find more positive and fulfilling ways of life.

What do I believe about how counselling works?
When we're struggling with very painful emotions and experiences, we often wish to wipe the slate clean, push the feelings into the past, and move on from them. My belief is that it's important to listen to our feelings and to understand where our emotional responses come from, as this helps us to resolve them, and then to work on changing the thoughts and anxieties that may be holding us back.

Emotional wounds - like physical ones - may scab over, but if there is still poison or pain underneath the surface, then the healing will not be as complete as we would like. By listening to those difficult feelings, sharing them in counselling, and by understanding their roots, the healing process can begin. Once the emotions have begun to clear, you'll have more 'thinking room' - more clarity and space to consider how you'd like your life to look in the future. It's a process of self-empowerment - taking back control over how you want your life to be.

What happens in a counselling session?
There are many different ways to 'do counselling', and i always try to work in a way that is most comfortable for you as the client. Here are some of the things we can do:

  • simply talk about whatever it is that has brought you to counselling
  • use stones or other objects to represent the people or events in your life
  • drawing or painting as a way of expressing your thoughts, feelings or experiences
  • writing a 'family tree' or 'life span diagram' to depict the defining moments or relationships that have made you who you are
  • writing a reflective journal
  • constructing a 'to do' list of activities to be worked on during each session or in between sessions
  • using an empty chair to represent the people you want to talk about in counselling

These are just some of the ways I've worked with clients; you may have some ideas of your own and I am very happy to discuss these with you.

'LifeCheck': personal development counselling

If you're feeling a bit jaded with life, stuck in a rut, or unable to decide how to go about making changes, then my LifeCheck personal development counselling may be a helpful option to consider. LifeCheck is more structured than my standard counselling service and consists of:

  • a 30-minute introductory session in which we agree what areas of your life we will look at
  • 4 sessions of 60 minutes duration, each session exploring in depth one of these areas - e.g Relationships, Health, Work, Free Time or other areas which you have identified yourself
  • the creation of a LifeCheck Plan detailing how you'll put into action whatever changes you've decided to make
  • a follow-up session of 60 minutes duration to review progress and identify any ongoing hurdles or new challenges

LifeCheck is a new service and so I'm currently offering it as a package for a reduced fee of £200 instead of the usual fee of £275. This offer is open until the end of March. LifeCheck is only available as a package, not as individual sessions.

Ethics
To make sure I work in an effective and ethical way with my clients, I regularly meet with an experienced and qualified counselling supervisor, always taking care to protect the identity of my clients by using first names or pseudonyms only.

I work within the ethical framework of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy. You can find out more about this here:

http://www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework/

Training, Qualifications & Experience

BACP-accredited Diploma of Higher Education in Counselling (Southampton University)

BA Honours in History and Social Anthropology (Stirling University).

Recent further professional training includes short courses in: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness, working with young people experiencing depression, working with addictions, and working with anxiety.

I've recently delivered training to counsellors on 'Emotional Relationships with Food' and on 'Disability in the Counselling Room', and I have worked extensively with issues around disability and long-term ill-health.

I'm a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the Association of Independent Practitioners, and Hampshire Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

A bit more about me
I trained as a counsellor after a successful career in a very different field, having experienced several challenges which forced me to stop and consider what I wanted to do with my life. Realising that I'd always been drawn to helping people work through their problems, and having benefited from counselling myself, I chose to retrain and now work full-time in this field - alongside working with clients, I also run the Marple Cross Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre in Southsea.

As a professional counsellor, I've worked with people on issues including bereavement, anger management, social anxiety, stress, sexuality, depression, alcohol-dependence, sexual abuse, relationship problems, domestic violence, low self-esteem and eating disorders, amongst many others.

As well as seeing clients in private practice, I've worked for Portsmouth Counselling Service and for Portsmouth University Student Counselling Service. I'm also co-director of Marple Cross, a private counselling and psychotherapy centre in Southsea, where I have my counselling room.

If you'd like more information on where I work and what counselling is all about, please visit the Southsea Counselling website - www.southseacounselling.co.uk.

Areas of counselling I deal with

Other areas of counselling I deal with

'Meaning of life' or existential issues

Life/skills coaching

Therapies Offered

Fees

  • My fee is £40 per 50-minute session.
  • If you would like to book and pay for a block of sessions in advance (with a minimum of 6), then I can offer you a discount of £5 per session. I will discuss the details of my refund and cancellation policy when we meet.
  • I offer a 50-minute initial assessment and consultation session for new clients for a reduced fee of £30.
  • I also offer short-term working via Skype for £40 per session, payable in advance via Paypal.

Please contact me for further details.

Further Information

I see clients at the Marple Cross Centre in Southsea, near the Queens Hotel on the corner of Shaftesbury Road and Osborne Road. There is nearby public car-parking and a bus-stop just outside. The Centre is wheelchair-accessible. For further details and a location map, please go to www.marplecrosscentre.co.uk or www.facebook.com/MarpleCross

I offer Skype counselling to individuals who are unable, for whatever reason, to attend one-to-one sessions in person.

  • Online, email or telephone counselling available

Member Organisation(s)

Upcoming Events

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