Dan Lupton

Careful Listening; A Real Response; Working Forward Together.  When things get tough, you need someone safe and caring to help you.

I focus on relationships - with yourself and with others - from an Integrative perspective and use Mindfulness and Body-based approaches that can help connect inner emotions with outer challenges.  I work with Individuals and Couples in Frome on the Somerset/Wiltshire border, within easy reach of Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Warminster, Trowbridge, Wells, Glastonbury and North Dorset.

Individual Counselling - A safe place to explore feelings and patterns of behaviour:

For many people, counselling is the first time they feel fully heard and accepted, without judgement. Talking things through in a safe, confidential space can clarify confusion, connect things up and build confidence. I work gently and supportively, affirming qualities you have and exploring painful areas.  I believe challenges provide our greatest learning, if approached with kindness and sensitivity. I am interested in exploring the 'quiet, still centre' of ourselves that can help increase inner strength and confidence.

Couples Counselling - Listening, being heard, and exploring difference;

In the initial stages of a relationship, differences within a couple can feel wonderful.  We feel complete, met and fulfilled - and we inevitably bring experiences and expectations from the past into the relationship.  As time passes, we adapt to each other and form a 'Relationshape' - a subtle, unspoken 'way of being together', which may work well and may also become frustrating.

When there is distance and misunderstanding, couples counselling can help.  An impartial, third person can help clarify communication, leading to deeper listening and more acceptance of each others' differences.  This can bring more respectful and satisfying relationship or, where appropriate, a better ending.

Mindfulness & Spirituality - Focusing on the 'here and now' & exploring deeper within;

By bringing our attention to the present moment and focusing on breath and body sensation, we can get a simpler perspective on difficult mental states.  Repeated practice can improve our quality of attention and help us feel calmer and stronger.  Feelings and thoughts that once engulfed us can feel less overwhelming, as we watch them come and go without being swept away by them.  I am happy to bring Mindfulness practices into client work as well as working with existing spiritual practices and beliefs.

Spiritual enquiry can help connect with a deeper sense of self and our place in the universe, and meditation, therapy and holistic exercise can counterbalance deep-seated habits of racing thought, repetitive emotion and locked-in body tension.  I regard this enquiry as both very practical and deeply mysterious.

Illness, Death & Dying - The Non-Negotiables of Life;

I have a long-standing interest in the intimate connection of mind and body.  I believe psychological change through counselling can help with the integrity and functioning of the body, as part of a holistic approach to healing, especially around long-term, chronic conditions with no obvious cause.

The prospect of death, or the death of someone close, can forcibly change our sense of self.  Where feelings are heightened among friends and family, counselling can provide space to explore these changes without being judged.

Effects of long-term illness, death and dying;
Working with men's identity and how to relate to it;
Spiritual dilemmas and transpersonal enquiry;
Working with the contrasting needs of extroverts and introverts;

Therapy and personal change takes time and commitment and can be hard at times. Most individuals and couples that I work with become happier, especially if we meet longer term (6+ months). Clients decide when to finish, with consultation and exploration of endings.

I work on a sliding scale of charges, from £30-60 for individuals, and £35-65 for couples, both for 60-minute sessions. You decide what you pay, based on your financial situation and how much you value the work.