Fiona Godfrey

I'm an experienced, accredited psychotherapist working with both individuals and couples.   I offer in-person sessions at my practice room in the centre of Bridport and do also offer online sessions, though I'm not currently taking on new clients for purely online work.

Individual counselling / psychotherapy

I offer both short-term counselling, which can provide support during a difficult time or help in dealing with a single issue, and psychotherapy, which is generally longer-term and focuses on deeper understanding, change and growth. You may be seeking help because of a painful life experience – perhaps a conflict, a loss or a relationship difficulty. You may be experiencing feelings you don’t understand or that seem out of balance – whether anger, sadness, anxiety or numbness. Maybe your physical health is being affected by your emotions. Perhaps you just feel you could be getting more from life or are simply curious to embark on a journey of greater self-understanding.

Sessions are an opportunity to talk through your experiences, to give space and time for your feelings and to recognise and make sense of your emotional patterns. I will help you be more attentive to what’s happening in your body moment to moment, to develop satisfying ways of responding to your patterns of stress and distress.

I work integratively, drawing on approaches from a range of psychotherapeutic traditions, including Gestalt, Internal Family Systems, NVC (non-violent communication) and Mindfulness. I draw heavily on Stanley Keleman's empowering work around how healing can be found through attention to our physiological / somatic patterns. Also central to my work is family therapist Virginia Satir’s brilliantly pragmatic work around relationships and communication and Pete Walker’s inspirational and deeply compassionate work on the impact of childhood emotional abuse and neglect. As a humanistic psychotherapist I’ll be genuine in how I respond to you, and patterns that surface in your relationship to me can be explored where you wish to. 

Couples / relationships 

I work with couples seeking to improve their relationship.  You may have hit a crisis and are questioning your partnership, want to work on patterns that keep surfacing between you, or want to bring richer communication and intimacy into your connection. A particular event or life change may have brought challenge into your world that is impacting how you are together. I also work with couples wanting to explore how to form an amicable ending.

Sessions are a chance to explore questions and conversations that may have become too difficult to raise together, an opportunity to learn to manage conflict and difference in more satisfying ways and a place to reconnect with how you can be a source of soothing and support for each other.

As well as working with couples, I also work with relationship difficulties between siblings, friends, work colleagues and between parents and adult children.  

My approach to relationship work is framed within the Imago model created by Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt, and underpinned by David Schnarch's concept of 'differentiation' (deepening connection through emotional disentanglement).

Work with artists / creativity

I have a background in the arts, and specialise in working with artists and other creatives who want to increase confidence, productivity, authenticity, depth and joy in their practice.  I also work with arts partnerships / collaborations where emotional and / or relational difficulties are hindering creative flow. Find out more at www.fionagodfreyart.com.

Experience

I have experience in working with addictions, ADHD, affairs, ageing, anger, anxiety, attachment, bereavement, boarding-school history, burnout, childhood emotional neglect, communication skills, chronic fatigue, creativity, cult-involvement, depression, dissociation, domestic abuse, family dynamics, forgiveness, gender, infidelity, intimacy, loss, menopause, miscarriage, money-issues, parenting, relationships, self-esteem, sexual abuse, sexuality, sibling relationships, trauma and work-related issues.

Creativity

Artist's block

Fees are £70.00 for individuals, £85.00 for couples. (Individual sessions are 50 minutes. Couples sessions are an hour.)  I do offer a few low cost places, so speak to me if my fees are out of reach. 

If you think you might be interested in working with me, I offer a free 20 minute conversation to talk through what you're looking for and to get a feel for whether I'm the right therapist for you.

My main practice is in Bridport, where I offer sessions in person from Tuesday to Friday each week. I work in Axminster on a Wednesday afternoon and also offer online sessions via Zoom.