Christine Flanders

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Counsellor/Therapist
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Trimdon Village, Durham, TS29 6LY
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

About me:

I am an accredited member of BACP as I believe that one of the most important things needed for counselling to be effective is for a person to feel safe to explore their personal material.  This means that I am committed to BACP's ethical framework for practice and am accountable to them to carry this through.

Why counselling?

Are you going round in circles? Counselling can be about letting another person come into the circle with you and helping you to find ‘your’ way out. People come to counselling for many reasons:

Some people have had very difficult experiences in their lives and have decided that they need time to consider the past, present and future responses to these.

Some people feel like they have no sense of self, who they really are as a person or have lost that sense somewhere along the way.

Some people have experienced or are currently experiencing feelings of depression, anxiety, or different types of mental health problems and need to find understanding of, and learn to manage these and work towards self-healing.

Sometimes any of the above can lead to a reliance on substances including alcohol.

For children, problems may be more difficult to identify. Their problems are often made apparent by displaying problematic behaviours at home or at school and often children and young people find it difficult to articulate and identify what is distressing them. Creative working offers them a language to speak through.

The core model that I work from is Person Centred. This means that I believe that we all have the potential to find our own way through our difficulties. When we can tap into that potential it is like a refreshing and nurturing Wellspring of life to draw from. Sometimes we need someone else to help us to connect with this, and begin to recognise this part of ourselves and listen to it.

We all have many layers of experiencing in our lives no matter what our age is and this can affect how we respond to our current life situations. Counselling is about working within these layers to bring freedom to be the person that you want to be in the now and in the future.

In addition to Person Centred, I can work with tools integrated from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and other models of Therapy, working in an integrative, humanistic approach.  Offering a choice in ways of working is always a priority a  counselling relationship with me. 

I offer very reasonable rates at £45 per hour for counselling and concessions for student counsellors and therapists (discussed on an individual basis). The charge may be slightly higher where I am paying rent for a therapeutic space - please enquire. In the future this will be reviewed annually.

The first session will be at a reduced cost £20 to give us a chance to meet and for you to find out any further information that you need before committing to further sessions. It will be at this point that we can discuss any concessions. I will hold a limited number of spaces for this.

Counselling Creatively
If you specifically want to work in this way it is an opportunity to use creative media within your counselling to help you to speak and express yourself ‘beyond words' - art collage, ready-made images and much more.  Please state this at the beginning so that we can plan together to suite the best medias that suite you.

Creativity can be a way of expressing that which is 'beyond words' and also offers containment for difficult feelings and issues.  It helps to work with different perspectives and see different aspects to problems and situations and can inspire the general creative process of life.

Children use creativity in counselling to explore and express difficult experiences and feelings. It is not always apparent what these represent but it is usually apparent that there is a process at work and I believe that working within the Person Centred approach keeps the therapy safe and at the child's pace.

You don’t have to be an artist or have any experience with art to take part in creative counselling. It isn’t about learning artistic techniques but it is about the process of producing and working with an image or writing for example. We would reflect on the image and the process of producing it, sometimes finding different meanings from it, about you, and your life.  Sometimes it is just part of the process.

There are many different ways to experience creative counselling. A safe and non-judgemental open space is created to work in as spontaneous a way as possible.

Working with problems and issues creatively can bring a deep and meaningful understanding of them.  Life is so much more dynamic than words only can express. Feelings and emotions are often difficult to express in words. Often colour, shape, form, images, can express in a helpful way those things which people find are beyond words.

It offers further containment of issues, experiences, feelings and emotions worked within the counselling relationship. People often say that they are frightened of opening boxes, which have been kept closed for fear of not coping with what is inside. Creative counselling offers a container or holding place as people can begin to open up issues that may be difficult for the person to explore.

‘It is in their dance, their intricate weaving, that the core conditions reveal their vitality and their potency as a healing force.'
(Person-Centred Therapy Today ©Sage Publications Ltd 2000).

Training, qualifications & experience

I trained to BA in Counselling degree level and have committed to 30+ hours professional development per year at since qualifying in 2002. I have been accredited with BACP for more than 15 years. I also have a Diploma in Person Centred Art Therapy Skills and training in working with Addiction and Complex issues.  Also, I have foundation training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and can draw from the tools that CBT offers where appropriate.  In the last five years I have developed further knowledge around working with people's trauma and the impact on them.  This has influenced my practice greatly meaning that I offer information and guidance around managing the impact of peoples' trauma and offer coping strategies to help manage this.

I have been working for 10 years in private practice, and in addition, have 20 years experience working both in GP practices, in a community setting and with people who are experiencing alcohol problems or addiction achieving good outcomes throughout.  This means that I have worked with many wide ranging issues including; bereavement, relationship problems, work related problems, depression, anxiety, mental health issues, abuse issues, alcohol-related problems, and many more. 

However, I do believe that an individual brings their unique experiences to counselling and these terms are often inadequate to describe these.

I have a number of years experience of working with children using creative therapy skills.

Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).

Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.

Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.

All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

Accredited register membership

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Fees

£45.00 per session

Concessions offered for

  • Trainee counsellors

Additional information

I charge £45 per hour and offer concessions under particular circumstances to a limited number of current clients working so please ask and this will be discussed. There may be a slightly higher charge where I pay rent for the therapeutic space  please enquire for details.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

I normally work between 9.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday

Further information

Children and young people

Depending on the age of your child, If a you are helping a child to access counselling it is helpful to have a telephone call before the sessions start.  An adult will need to accompany a child to the initial session and we will discuss how this will work as regards contracting, creating a confidential space etc.  There are different options available which we will discuss further.  

Directions and finding me

Trimdon Village is only 10 minutes from the A19 Hartlepool turn off and 5/10 minutes from the A689 which is about about a mile from Wynyard before you reach Sedgefield.

51 Front Street South, Trimdon Village, Durham, TS29 6LY

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Children
Young people
Adults
Older adults
Organisations
Employee Assistance Programme

Key details

DBS check

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

There are 6 steps upto the front of my house. I am sorry to say that my house is not wheel chair accessible due to the steps and a narrow gate at the back.

Online platforms

Zoom

Supervision

In person
Online
Phone

I have offered supervision for 4 years and have places available to new supervisees. I offer a safe creative space to explore your work practice

View supervision profile

Social

Christine Flanders
Christine Flanders