Susan Trussell

Sometimes it is hard to talk to friends or family about what you are going through and how it makes you feel. The advice given, though well meant, can be confusing, perhaps because it is coming from people who are too close and trying to ‘fix ’things. Or you may feel that you are a burden and not want to share your worries with them.

The counselling room creates a safe place to offload. It is a place to get a different perspective; to regain some lost strength and to gain a better understanding of where you are now and be more at peace with making positive choices for the future with someone who cares and won’t judge you.

My approach is to use common sense and is simple. I follow you and your needs, working alongside you in a considered and confidential way, listening carefully, reflecting back and clarifying any confusion. This counselling process helps establish feelings of safety, supporting you to deal with the things that need to be changed and to come to terms with those that can’t.

It is generally agreed that the key to successful therapy is the good relationship between therapist and client. I offer an initial free phone call to talk through how I work and answer any questions that you may have, so that you can decide if I am the right person for you to work with.

Couples counselling

This work puts the relationship as the client, and our work looks at communication and how to improve it. This can involve acceptance of things that can’t be changed, compromise where they can and a greater understanding of the other’s perspective. 

Counselling for young people

When a young person is swamped by difficult and muddled feelings it is hard for them to articulate what is troubling them. They often don’t want to upset their family by talking to them about their concerns and can end up bottling it all up. Worries can include bullying, family relationships and friendships, and can result in angry outbursts or withdrawn behaviour.

I have trained and worked in a school setting with Place2be, a children's counselling organisation, a family mediation service, seeing children and families who are struggling with divorce or separation and in a young person’s residential care home.

Bereavement Counselling

When a loved one dies it can be the single most distressing experience that we will ever face. We can be unprepared for the physical and emotional reaction to our loss and find ourselves overwhelmed by the enormity of our feelings.
It can be helpful to talk to a counsellor who isn’t personally involved, someone who understands the grieving process, understands that it takes as long as it takes and will be there alongside you on your journey.

Depression

Depression affects many people at some time in their life. It is more than just having a bad day. If we are going through a particularly difficult or stressful time we can expect our mood to be lower than it would be normally. It becomes a concern if we feel persistently low, if we can find no joy in our day to day life, are tearful, irritable, sleep badly and cannot concentrate on anything.
Counselling can be a helpful contribution to overcoming depression. I am a person-centred counsellor, which means that I believe that we all have a natural tendency to grow and thrive, but sometimes we need to get back on track. Through a non-judgmental, trusting relationship I aim to help you get in touch with the feelings underlying your depression, to express these and make sense of them and find new ways of looking at the world that you live in.
We can look at the ‘shoulds’ in your world. “I ‘should’ be able to cope better, pull myself out of this and enjoy life more.” Living up to other peoples’ expectations and keeping up appearances can be draining. My intention is to offer support in moving away from self-defeating assumptions and towards a hopeful future, always at your own pace.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse can take many forms; physical, verbal and emotional. It can also happen to anyone and can be very hard to come to terms with and make healthy choices for the future. Talking to a counsellor can help clarify a way forward that works for you. If this is part of your past then counselling can help you understand what has happened and deal with the anger and guilt that often arise. For children who witness abuse it can become ‘normal’ and they can take their experiences with them through to adult life. They may feel that they are to blame for their parent’s difficulties and counselling can help them make sense of it.

Eating disorders
I am diploma qualified with Practitioner Skills for Eating Disorders with the National Centre for Eating Disorders NCFED. This is to ensure that I work safely in this area. I have also undertaken further courses with NEDDE, Neurodiversity Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating.

Supervision

I am experienced BACP accredited counsellor and a supervisor to both trainee and qualified counsellors. My supervision practice reflects my counselling style which is predominantly person centred but I also use other approaches where appropriate. I offer a regular space and time to think about your work and relationships with your clients. We can work together to look at issues that arise such as separating out our own stuff, monitoring our own self-care, over involvement with clients and other ethical dilemmas. I aim to offer a warm, non-judgemental environment where supervisees can safely bring their successes as well as worries.

Finding the right supervisor for you can take time and the supervisory relationship is usually a long term partnership. I therefore offer a free initial session by phone or zoom, where you can tell me about your work, level of experience, placement if in training, and type and number of clients that you see. We can look at what you would like from supervision and I can answer any of your questions.

Once we have agreed to work together my costs are £60 per hour, £45 per hour for counsellors in training. 
 

£60 per individual session.

£70 per couples session