Martin Head

Welcome to my profile, I am a BACP Counsellor and UKCP Psychotherapeutic Counsellor. I work with adults of all ages and backgrounds providing short and long term counselling in Exeter and online nationally and internationally.

It’s not just effective training and considerable experience that you will benefit from when working together with me on the issues you want to address. you’ll enjoy the fruits of a strong and safe container that will allow you access to unconscious forces that are holding you back. The feedback I get from people I work with is there is a space where you will be warmly encouraged to go more deeply into your own experience than you may ever have before. improvements in your life will generally follow quite swiftly. 

Why choose Counselling?

Our reasons for entering counselling are often related to the difficulties we face as we move through life such as bereavement or loss of meaning during mid-life. Long standing issues such as anxiety, depression and addictive behaviours may also be the motivation for seeking help.

Counselling can give you an opportunity to explore the patterns of your life, reconnecting you with aspects of yourself that you had been unaware of. It is like bringing a compassionate spotlight on to the person we have become. 

Many of us would aspire to live our lives as fully as we can, some of us try to find what this means by taking a closer look at ourselves with a trusted guide.

What can I help with?

It may be separation or loss that has brought us to this point. Perhaps you are suffering from depression, anxiety or Relationship issues. It could be more a vague sense of dissatisfaction and a desire for a greater sense of meaning that is the source of your discomfort. Whatever the issue, Counselling with a skilled Therapist can guide you through periods of difficulty and change towards a deeper understanding of yourself.

Transpersonal Therapy

Many people these days are interested in finding deeper meaning through meditative approaches and spirituality but how does this connect with personal therapy? My own journey through life has led to reflection on the apparent contradiction Between the transcendent part of us that hopes spirituality will bring an end to suffering and the more human part that Needs to learn to care for ourselves as we negotiate life’s painful pathways. One helpful perspective can be to see a distinction between existential and developmental wounding and how these two can become conflated leaving us feeling overwhelmed. It might be helpful to know some of your wounding can be addressed and moved on from whereas with more existential issues learning to accept and deeply love yourself becomes even more important. A soulful transpersonal therapist like myself can help with the needs of both the spirit and the soul.

Finding meaning in midlife

I see adults of all ages facing a variety of challenges but it’s not unusual for people who come to see me to be in the middle period of their lives and experiencing some sort of crisis of meaning. Perhaps you are established in life to a degree but there is less momentum to drive you forward and maybe a feeling of what now? Midlife is a time when things that previously had strong meaning have less importance and you are forced to find new ways to see yourself. Whilst unsettling, if you can turn towards your experience rather than distracting yourself you might find fresh layers of meaning and ultimately a recovery of a deeper and more authentic self 

Self acceptance and the soul

My style is soulful which means seeing painful experiences, difficulties and suffering not just as things to overcome but also as significant in forming character, wisdom and self acceptance. It’s paradoxical but in order to really change we need to fully accept ourselves as we are.

How do I work?

Sometimes patterns of behaviour have been with us since childhood so it takes courage to reach out and be deeply heard, allowing wounds to heal and new perspectives to emerge.

You may think of counselling as a way of finding some support through life’s difficulties and that is certainly valid. But what if the therapeutic journey also allowed life to reveal itself to you in exciting, satisfying, challenging and sometimes scary ways? One could perhaps re-imagine it as a mythical struggle born of the desire to be free from pain but ultimately pointing to a deeper understanding of what it is to be alive.

Therapy is a relationship, I believe that the therapeutic relationship itself is responsible for much of the healing that takes place, the deeper the sense of trust the greater the chance of change. For me it is a privilege to witness someone like you as you start to trust that you can allow who you fully are to emerge and having someone to accompany you on that journey makes all the difference. At its best the Therapy is a kind of alchemical container that gently allows transformation to occur. 

I work with adults of all ages and backgrounds and value and respect difference and diversity. I am a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists and I abide by their ethical framework.

What happens next?

We will step right in to what’s troubling you and after a full hour’s immersion you’ll come away with a feeling of having been strongly met and a sense of a path going forward. If you would like to take that next step and meet me then get in touch, naturally there’s no obligation to take things further if it’s not for you. The session will last a full hour and costs £60

Please either call or text me on 07896123473 or click here to send me an email.

Exeter - £60

Sessions last an hour