Nicola Richter

I am here to assist you in finding your wholesome path through life's challenges and opportunities. In your inner and outer world you might experience feelings you wish to make sense of, including anxiety, anger, confusion, depression, illness, family discord, tension from opposing views, feeling stuck and sadly: bereavement. With my support you can work through these, coming out on the other side.

We may discuss your thoughts and feelings how to deal with practical issues, health issues, emotional and mental health, as well as spiritual and mindfulness related beliefs and experiences which you might be encountering and wish to explore for your greater well-being.

Please visit my website www.nicolarichter.com for my personal message to you about psychological wellbeing (check also out my blog on my website).

I offer you a friendly, genuine, professional and very experienced & effective service.
My holistic and interactive approach, is tailored to your individual needs to help you to: understand yourself and others more fully, work through patterns, make the changes in your feelings and thinking and behaviour, which you wish to make. Listening to you, appreciating you and valuing you for who you are, are key aspects of the therapy with me.

• You are in safe hands: as I have over 25 years of experience of making a difference to peoples lives • You can be assured by my credentials: I am a senior BACP accredited counsellor and psychotherapist, registered with UKCP, qualified as a psychologist with a Masters in Psychology • In addition you get from me up-to-date knowledge, as I trained others in counselling and psychotherapy as senior lecturer at University and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy • Plus: with me you can get to work with a whole-hearted professional: I am immersed in the field, e.g. also through presenting at national and international conferences (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, USA, and: internationally online hosted in: China, New Zealand and USA).

Above all: I am human and talk with you in a warm, sensitive, compassionate and natural way. For me you are not a standard 'case', you are a unique person. I am here to help you, to access your own inner potential, to understand your life's lessons, to find your own answers and to experience deep contentment in living the life you know you could and wish to live.

OF BENEFIT TO YOU:
• Confidential, fully insured service for individuals and couples.
• An opportunity for you to explore: emotional, psychological and spiritual issues, without being judged.
• I assist you in the deepening of your awareness of yourself, your feelings, thoughts, behaviour, your past and current situation. Through gaining such deeper insight, I know from other 20,000 sessions with people, that you can gain more choice in your well-being.
• My work includes: identifying patterns which don't serve you anymore and finding ways how to learn and move on from experiences, towards hope and greater fulfilment in your life.
• We can talk face-to-face, and phone or Skype sessions are available too.
• I also offer clinical and research supervision for practitioners and trainees.

I enjoy assisting you to actually change what you would like to change in your life, your relationships, and within yourself. I am here to support you and encourage you to manage life's challenges and pains; how to build on your inner growth; and how to move towards your goals and purpose in life.

TOPICS INCLUDE:
Worry and Anxiety, Depression, Suicide, Addiction, Wellbeing, Confidence, Relationships Issues, Couples Counselling, Marriage Preparation, Separation Counselling, Self-Esteem, Stress and Feeling Unsure or Stuck, Work, Suffering due to Oppression-Racism-Political Division, Loss, Bereavement, Crisis, Burnout, Transitions, Personal Growth, Life's Meaning, Conflicting Goals and Values, Conflict with Others and Within Oneself, Personality Changes, Communication Skills, Self-Love, Hope, Mindfulness, Spiritual Crisis, Finding Inner Strength, Resources-Activation, Unlocking your own Potential, ...

And: I presented at four international conferences on the psychological impact of the pandemic, with an emphasis on self-empowerment, holistic communication and bridging divisions.

USEFUL FOR YOU TO KNOW:
I like to assist you in gaining a deeper understanding, different views and ways to come to terms with your situation and to advance from it.
With understanding and insight, you are likely to see more choices in how you can react to things. I am interested in supporting you to access and clarify your own answers and how you can action them. I have witnessed over and over, that deeper insight into a situation, provides a sense of greater control over a persons own actions and reactions, and is a powerful means for living contently and meaningfully.

WHO I SEE:
I work with adults of any age.                                                                                     My clients come from all walks of life: creative industry - writers, actors, musicians, designers; homemakers; architects and interior designers; doctors; entrepreneurs; builders and handymen; athletes; computer experts; lawyers; therapists; pensioners; service personnel; office and retail workers; students; police officers; gardeners; teachers; ...

LOCATION:
I am based in St. Albans (South Side, 5-7 min from motorways M1 Jct 6 and Jct 7 / M25 Jct 22 and Jct 21a).
Typically people come to me from St. Albans and the surrounding Hertfordshire areas, and also from London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire.
Within walking distance: St. Albans Abbey Station, Buses S4 and S5 from St. Albans City station (trains from London Hampstead take 15 minutes) ; Bus 655 from Borehamwood (via Park Street).

                                  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

HOW MANY SESSIONS ARE NEEDED?
Most people who come to me can already feel after the first session more hope and can see a difference in their feelings and thinking within 4-6 sessions.

I offer short-term, medium-term and long-term counselling and psychotherapy. My service is tailored to your needs, and the number of sessions depends largely upon your problems, e.g. is it something very specific, which has been very recent? - in which case you may come only for 2-4 sessions.
If you have things you want to talk about, which might have been going on for years and only now you are paying more attention to them, or if there is something about your personality or way of thinking and feeling you would like to change, this can take a couple of weeks, or months.
In some cases you may wish to come for a 'psychological maintenance', or have a 'general overhaul', a taking stock of your life, maybe finding new meaning, which can take months to years.

• Inner Strength Counselling, Building Inner Resources, Resilience, Positive Psychology
• Self-Acceptance, Self-Compassion
• Insights and Awareness and: how to action them
• Inner (and outer) Conflicts and Confusion
  
• Fear of Death, Suicidal Ideation
• Meaning in Life, Purpose in Life
• Transitions (e.g. motherhood; children leaving home; career change; life-style changes; retirement; illness; death and dying; separation; moving in together; pre-nuptial counselling, ...)
• Creativity, Writers Block, Performance Anxiety
• Trust (in self and others)
• Faith, Spirituality, Belief, Moral Issues
• Oppression, Racism
• Value Conflicts, Priorities Clarification
• Doubt and Assurance
• Anger, Responsibility and Compassion
• Couple Issues, Pre-Marriage Counselling, Separation Counselling, Communication Improvement, Child-Care Agreements
• Mindfulness - how to practice
• Becoming Unstuck from Patterns
• Maintaining Inner Balance
• Experiencing Contentment
• Relaxation, Meditation, Breathing Exercises, Health Psychology
• Life Style Changes, and how to implement them
• Managing Feelings and Emotions, such as Depression, Anxiety, Jealousy, Distrust, Stress
• Hope
• Freedom and Responsibility
• Realisations - moving from re-actions to actions and choices based on deeper understanding of self and others

Please feel free to ask me about your particular area of interest

SESSIONS are available:

• Mondays from 10am to 6pm,
• Tuesdays from 9am to 5pm, ,
• Wednesdays from 10am to 6pm,
• Thursdays from 9am to 1pm.

FEE

My fee reflects my profound experience - usually assessing issues more quickly and providing much sooner and deeper insights to promote well-being. For this reason some people find that fortnightly sessions are sufficient and work out well:

a) as the sessions can often bring about powerful insights, and                               b) to cater for economic restrictions but still getting excellent service.

• Price: £90 per session for individuals.
• Couples £95 per session.
• Fees for organisations, EAP, insurances on request. 

I am available to answer PHONE ENQUIRES, Mondays-Fridays between 10am-6pm. Should you get my voicemail, please leave a message with your phone-number, for confidentiality reasons the line does not record numbers. I always call back and as soon as I have time for us to talk. If you are at work, you can e.g. call me briefly during day-time so we can arrange for a time, when you can speak more freely.

My CONDITIONS OF WORK ARE FLEXIBLE
you can decide after each session, when you wish to come again. The frequency and number of appointments depend on your reasons for coming, finances, and practical arrangements, which might even change over time and can include e.g.:
• unburdening yourself and talking something over with an unbiased therapist, who truly listens to you
• overcoming obstacles & challenges and finding different views on a matter,
• understanding yourself and others better and making changes,
• working through patterns you might feel stuck in,
• 'maintenance' for dealing with life's stressors,
• or for general personal, professional, or spiritual growth.
The decision is yours.

                                                                                       SUMMARY
My clear and easy to comprehend approach is tailored to your individual needs and wants. Assisting you: in making changes happen, clarifying your own answers, accessing your inner strength and potential & translating insights into action and into your daily life. Feeling more content within yourself and fulfilled with your life.


YOUR BENEFIT:
I am up-to-date with latest developments, research and knowledge in counselling and psychotherapy. I am passionate about the profession (I love my work!) and maintain an attitude of awareness of what I do and its deeper meaning for your overall well-being.

EXPERIENCES THAT COUNT:
• 25 years experience of providing counselling and psychotherapy;
• over 20,000 hours of counselling provided;
• senior lecturer at Universities and Colleges, training people in the counselling and psychotherapy profession; offering specialist trainings (e.g. on Suicide Intervention at California State University, Northridge);
• presenter at national and international conferences (Australia, Europe, New Zealand, USA) and at international online conferences (hosted from China, New Zealand, USA); I have been on radio.
• published a number of articles and a book-chapter, and some of my work has been cited by others in journals and books.
• editorial reviewer for educational journal and Sage Publications book proposal.
• senior accredited and registered with the two main regulating bodies for counselling and psychotherapy in the UK (BACP & UKCP).
• approved provider for medical healthcare insurances (e.g. Aviva, AXA, Cigna, PruHealth, WPA).
• personal experience, in my eyes is essential next to the professional experience, as mentioned above, thus I have done a lot of work on myself as I want to offer you integrity when I am talking with you.

OTHER ADVANTAGES:
• day-time, lunch-hour and early evening appointments to choose from (first appointment starts at 9am, latest appointment starts at 5pm).
• flexibility of appointment frequency (whether once a week, fortnightly, monthly or any other rhythm - we do it the way it works best for you)
• short-term and long-term counselling and psychotherapy
• in addition to in person sessions, also: phone and Skype sessions available, if e.g. you travel, have work- or other commitments, are house-bound, shift-working, etc.
• full professional insurance
• sessions take place in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere
• free parking at all times

WHAT NEXT:
I welcome to have a little chat with you on the phone - for free! (about 10 to 15 minutes) - to provide you with any additional details, and answer any questions you may have about my service or counselling and psychotherapy in general.

Please feel encouraged to call me to discuss, your needs, concerns or wants, or to book an initial appointment.

Just give me a call on:                       ( 0 1 7 2 7 )   7 5   0 0   8 8    

or email me if you prefer at: NicolaRichter@yahoo.com

I look forward to talking with you,
with warmest wishes,
                                                               NICOLA