Nicola Edmunds
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About me
As an accredited and experienced counselor, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor. I will take the time to fully explore with you the issue and look at how this is impacting on your life day to day. I offer individual or couple/family counselling.
My holistic approach enables clients’ of all ages to explore areas of difficulty in their lives, at a pace that suits them. Whether that is Anxiety, Depression, Bereavement, low self esteem, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Relational conflict at home, work or school or any other issues that you are finding difficult to deal with. I work in a gentle and supportive way, whilst always working within a safe and ethical framework.
Counselling can be challenging but often rewarding and life changing.
I am based in Pillowell and work from my home office which offers a peaceful place to think, talk and reflect whilst overlooking lovely views of the forest.
I can offer appointments Tuesday to Friday from 9am till 6.00pm. If you are unsure if I am the right counselor for you please get in touch and we will spend an hour on your initial consultation. We can meet and talk about what has brought you to therapy and what support you feel you need from me as your counselor. Following this introduction we can decide if you would like to attend weekly or fortnightly. Where I will provide a warm welcome and safe place for you to look at what is difficult in your life. We will review our work at regular intervals. Counselling can be short or long term and I am happy to work on either term as it depends on what the individual or couples' need at the time.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
One of the most effective therapies for many areas of psychological distress, especially when anxiety or depression is prominent.
Uses a gradual approach to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and
behaviour to improve the way you feel.
can also be used with children.
Psychotherapy (Psycho-dynamic approach)
Focusing on underlying emotions and connections between present feelings/behaviour and past events.
enabling the re-processing of emotions and perceptions from past experiences.
Couple Counselling/Family Therapy
focuses on patterns of behaviour and communication between couples/family members.
improves understanding of others points of view, individual and shared roles.
improves negotiation and boundaries within relationships, consolidating couple/family expectations of each other.
My background is in mental health and medicine, during this time I worked with children and adults.
I love to spend time with my animals, gardening, reading, and listening to music. My curiosity is behavior and why we do what we do. I feel privileged to be able to walk alongside individuals whilst they find ways to heal and enjoy life again.
I understand how hard it is to reach out for help, but when you find the courage, it will be received with empathy, compassion and without judgement.
Training, qualifications & experience
I hold a Master of Science degree from the University of Bristol in Counselling and Psychotherapy and a Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP Accredited)
I am a Accredited Counselor with the National Counselling Society and recorded on the society register.
I am a member of the (BACP) British Association of Counselors and Psychotherapist.
I hold a Bachelor of Arts honors Degree in English Literature; which enables me to facilitate a therapeutic writing or creative approach if this is helpful for clients’ to express themselves through difficult subjects.
My research thesis was an arts-based auto-ethnography on trauma.
I hold an Advanced Specialist Clinical Diploma in Supervision (distinction).
I have experience of working in a creative framework, arts based, image work and visualizations.
I research all areas that I work with, and continually undertake personal and professional development through, reading, workshops and training days here is a list of some of the workshops I have attended:-
Systemic Constellation with Vivian Broughton.2010
Therapeutic Writing Workshop with Kim Etherington. 2010
Compassion Focused Therapy with Ali Leftwich 2010
The Mastery of Expression with Dr Adrian Longstaffe. 2010
Selves In Action. Dr Adrian Longstaffe & Shanti Sherton 2011
Trauma from an embodied- relational therapy perspective with Allison Priestman. 2011
The Trauma Symposium. Process Work Stroud 2011
Meditation and Mindfulness. The Buddhist Centre 2012
Exploring the possibilities of Research with John McLeod. 2012
Pre-Trial Therapy for survivors of sexual abuse and rape. with Womankind, the Green house & Kinergy 2013
Kinergy Open Space Day to explore counselling practice working with survivors of abuse.2013
Conference led by The Greenhouse; Kinergy and Womankind Giving a voice to and supporting survivors of rape and sexual abuse. November 2013.
Foundation Herbal Course for health and well-being Rhizome Herbal Clinic Bristol March 2104.
Working with sexually Abused Males. New Pathways 2016
Somatic trauma training with Babette Rothschild 2016/17
"Look after yourself: self care for counsellors" Network counselling & Training January 2017
Snr Accredited Diploma in Clinical Supervision. 2017
Trauma and Internal Family systems with Liz Martins ( April 2017 )
safeguarding children in schools Gloucestershire County Council. 2018
online counselling training 2019.
Working with Relational Trauma: Dealing with Disorganised Attachment with Carolyn Spring 2020
Treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Wale Oladipo May 2021
Polyvagal Theory 2021
safeguard training 2022 online
Mental Health in children 2022 Home start
Working With Autism 2022
Bereavement and Loss katy Day 2023
Member organisations
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.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society
This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.
In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
I have specialist experience of working as a trauma counselor. Working with men and women who have survived sexual violence and physical abuse. I work with front line services and the military, suffering from complex mental health issues and PTSD.
I am also a Counselor / Supervisor for:-
Sporting chance / Professional Football Association.
Victim Support
Gloucestershire County Council
Monmouthshire County Council
The Athelstan Trust
Anxiety UK
Watts Urethane Lydney.
Teens in Crisis
The Green House
The Princes Trust
Fees
£50.00 per session
Additional information
Hourly fees:
£50: for individuals.
£60: for couples. £75 for family therapy.
£50 for Supervision, £75 for 90 minutes
you can pay by cash or bank transfer.
Further information
Testimonials:
"Truly a life saving experience" (S K, 2011)
"An opportunity to relieve the pressure inside, once the pressure was released I could look at things in a more reasoned way" "Art therapy worked for me" (S B, 2011)
"We are better as a couple now than we were before" (J I & A I, 2012)
"Having counselling has made me feel more confident and given me a voice to stand up for myself" (D C, 2012)
"Nicola is very warm, easy to talk too and empathetic. She is able to add a new perspective to problems and come up with some real and practical solutions that help. I found it a very rewarding experience and it certainly helped the communication and balance in our relationship." (M S, Jan 2013)
"Counselling with Nicola gave me the courage to step outside of my fears and uncertainties and look at them from a different angle, which in turn, gave me the clarity to face them head-on and conquer them. My approach to life and how I see myself has changed so much and I can see how I've transformed and moved on in so many positive ways". (M D, Feb 2013)
"I found Nicola an invaluable help and great support when going through a tough time in my relationship. She was able to make us see things from both sides and ultimately build a much stronger and successful partnership" (A & P, Sept 2013)
"A thoroughly professional mixed with a human touch and appropriate personal experience which enabled me to deal with my issues to a positive conclusion" (N E, Dec 2013)
I was struggling with stuff left over from a bad relationship, we worked on that and also my self esteem and confidence issues. I've got the old me back, and for that I will be eternally grateful. Nicola is a wonderful counsellor, I found her easy to talk to. counselling can be emotionally difficult at times but it is honestly the best thing I have ever done. I always felt at ease with Nicola and I cannot recommend her highly enough. if your thinking about having some counselling I would urge you to have a go, its changed my life, my attitude to myself and my view on relationships. (R D, Jan 2014)
I cannot put into words how much you have helped me to let go and move on, you helped me find strength I never thought I had to become more confident about myself. (CS Oct 2104).
Nicola is a friendly and warm counsellor. I found my time with Nicola to be hugely helpful in my own spiritual growth and in dealing with difficult matters from the past. Nicola provides an environment which is safe, welcoming and professional. Counselling with Nicola provided me the space I needed to express myself and I was able to express myself through creativity which was hugely beneficial. I would recommend Nicola to anyone that wanted a real professional with a human touch. (NB March 2015)
As two adult intelligent people experiencing a relationship difficulty we approached Nicola for help. Her CV in
relationship counselling was the factor that made us approach her as opposed to the many counsellors available in our area.
We found her to be unbiased, truthful ,experienced, patient and extremely helpful without making any one partner feeling blamed and gave us a strategic path forward to help us in our future relationship. We would highly recommend her to anyone with a relationship problem.
(Alan and Ann 2016).
"Nicola helped me a great deal. I feel like a new person and can enjoy life again" ( M B 2017)
"I liked Nicola from the moment I met her and knew that this was someone I could talk to.
Her invaluable support allowed me to work through my issues, giving me the confidence to face them head on and make the right decisions for me.
I'm now looking at forward to life and what the future holds in a more positive way."
(C.T May 2018 )
"I had never sought counselling before and was very apprehensive about finding the right counselor. Nicola put me at ease straight away and has helped me manage the things I had been struggling with in a friendly non judgmental way.
Nicola's therapy room is lovely, the view immediately gave me a sense of calm. I feel I have really benefited from counselling sessions and am now able to move on with my life" (F.C 2020)
From my initial consultation with Nicola in March of 2021 shortly after my 16th birthday to my final session in August of 23, I can say I have moved from a place that can only be described as in crisis to a position of looking to attend Oxford University. I entered counselling of my own accord at a point in my life where I saw no way through my then debilitating and limiting struggles with claustrophobia induced anxiety, and through dedication to Nicola's compassion and honest approach I have now reached a point where everyday life is not something to fear and so many doors once closed to me now present a wealth of opportunity. (EM 2023)
