M. Cristina Garcia-Hebson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
There are moments when we feel we cannot cope with the high levels of anxiety or depression. We might feel very sad, suffering intense grief or confused by a very intense spiritual experience. We might feel lost in our life , struggling with a change in direction or feeling we have lost the meaning of our own life/work/relationships/activities.
Sometimes when life gets heavy and muddled up, we feel in a confusing and dark place. We might feel overwhelmed with things in our lives. Counselling offers the time and space for you to be able to offload your thoughts and feelings, look at things from different perspectives, explore alternative approaches to the difficulties and tap into your inner and outer resources. This process can help to gradually become able to make sense of what you are going through and find yourself again in a new light.
I am Cristina, a fully qualified person-centred counsellor working in Blackburn, Darwen and the Ribble Valley.
As a person-centred counsellor you and what you are experiencing at the moment are the main focus for our work together. Sometimes words are not enough and what you are experiencing is greater than simple thoughts. That is when the use of embodiment, mindfulness, breathwork and expressive art techniques offer a greater possibility for exploring yourself, tapping into the deeper roots of your distress and allowing you to reconnect with your own deep wisdom and higher self.
I have worked with diverse adults through charities such as Lancashire Women’s Centre and Carer’s Service in Blackburn who are going through depression, anxiety, eating disorders, separation conflict, caring stress, anger, suicidal thoughts, loss and bereavement, spiritual confusion, existential/spiritual confusion to name a few.
I also have several years of experience in offering emotional support to children and young people who are struggling after a change in their life circumstance due to loss, bereavement, separation, divorce, new family unit, change of school bullying, self-harm, hopelessness, young carer, parental substance misuse, among others. I offer a creative approach to help young people develop a broader perspective of the difficult situation they are going through and develop resilience and renewed hope.
About the service I offer
Being person-centred to me means that YOU are the main focus of my attention in the session. Everything you experience, think and feel is genuine, is true to you, so it is accepted as valid. I respect you as a person who is dealing with things the best way possible. A unique person who is eager to find a different and clearer way forward but might be stuck in a scary or confusing place, feeling unable to change.
I listen deeply to what you bring to each session, feedback what I can hear and see and allow yourself to tap into your inner strength and wisdom to find a new way of looking at yourself and where you are at. We journey together during the agreed sessions and once you feel that you have moved on to feeling more clear about who you are, what you want and how you can achieve this, then we decide to part paths and you will carry on in your own personal journey hopefully with a new perspective.
By using solution-focused elements I can offer to focus on finding alternatives to a situation you are struggling with. The use of creative media and mindfulness techniques can help to find new ways of expressing yourself, when words just don’t fit and offer alternative development and coping strategies. But all this will be agreed with you at our assessment session.
If you are interested in counselling for your child I could liaise with their school and offer counselling in their own school time.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Certificate in Supervision of Counselling and Psychotherapy (level 7)
- MA in Psychology with mention in Educational Psychology (level 7)
- Post-Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (level 7)
- Foundation certificate in Counselling skills (level 2)
- Certificate of Professional development, Skills-based approaches to child and adolescent mental health work (level 3)
- Certificate of professional development, using play and art in expressive therapy.
- Certificate of professional development in the use of sandtray in expressive therapies
- Certificate of professional Development, Children and young people who self-harm
Member organisations
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
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£35.00 - £45.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Initial assessment £25 (for half an hour)
Sessions £40 (for 50 minutes)
I offer concessions for key worker and low income.
My preferred way of payment is Bacs payment prior to the day of appointment.
Thank you
When I work
Current daytime availability for online counselling, via video conferencing.
Further information
During the first assessment, we will be able to meet each other, talk about what you would like and need from counselling and what I can offer. If this matches up then we will agree on a number of sessions and the best time to continue forward.
If you have and questions or would like to establish communication with me without obligation, please feel free to message me.
If you live in the Hyndburn area and find it difficult to travel to Blackburn, we can arrange a different venue/office to hold our sessions in.
