Tracy Shakes

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE?

Hello, my name is Tracy Shakes and I am passionate about working with adults and children helping them to understand the challenges or problems they face in life. I have 30 years of experience of working with people who have experienced abuse, trauma or issues that impact on your everyday life.

Counselling can support us in some very specific areas, for example:

• bereavement or loss
• anger
• marriage break-up
• family turmoil
• abuse/ domestic violence
• help in dealing with stress – conflict at work, problems at home, pressures of everyday living
• feelings of loneliness or isolation
• depression
• anxiety and panic attacks
• relationship difficulties
• childhood trauma
• confusion or forgetfulness
• low self-esteem
• sexual identity and stress
• addictions
• victims of sexual abuse

Initially I trained in Person Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy and for lots of people counselling has facilitated positive change in their life and helped them to resolve issues and trauma that caused a difficulty or disturbance in their life.

I am also able to offer therapy to people who are looking for help to manage their anger. I have completed the ‘Citizen Anger Management’ programme which is a six session course looking specifically and anger.

I work with people from the age of 5 upwards.

I practice in Henley-in-Arden and Knowle Solihull .

The choice of therapy lies with you, not with me. Should you wish to discuss the problem you have with me, in a free consultation call, and to then decide on the best course of therapy for you, this can be done.

I would hope that the initial chat will put you at ease and enable you to take the next step to book the appointment.

What is counselling?

Counselling is a ‘talking therapy’, or in other words a conversation between counsellor and a client. You and your counsellor will meet face to face, usually once a week, for 50 minutes, to work through difficulties which are causing you concern. As a counsellor, I am to be able to offer short-term and open-ended counselling to meet your needs.

How Counselling can help

There are times in our lives when there seems to be no way to overcome distressing events of overwhelming feelings – when our lives have become difficult or even intolerable. At such times of intense anxiety we are liable to make hasty decisions which we later regret, or accept advice from others with which we may not be in wholehearted agreement, and then have to live with the consequences. Counselling aims to help people clarify their own thoughts and reach their own decisions, and perhaps to make major life changes in their life.

There are times when the challenges of life become really difficult to bear. Times when you know you could benefit from real, objective understanding. Being human confronts us all with challenges: life and death, freedom, meaning, values, choice and commitment, relationships–with ourselves and with others. And that’s where professional counselling comes in.

Counselling is different from other kinds of help in that no attempt is made to tell you what to do. Essentially, my task, as the counsellor is to bring a skilled/rained listening ear to you and your problems in order to help you to discover more about yourself – your strengths and weaknesses, values beliefs and priorities – so that you can find your own solutions and carry out your own resolutions. It is a rewarding personal experience between people, and requires commitment of time and effort on both sides.

At times Counselling can be challenging, since it often involves talking about things we would prefer to push out of our minds in everyday life. Although challenging, it can also be a tremendous relief to air our half-buried ideas and feelings.

Because a counselling relationship is totally confidential, you can entrust a trained and experienced counsellor with thoughts or feelings which might be considered unacceptable or even silly in everyday life. Ideas, thoughts or feelings of which other people, or even a part of ourselves disapprove, can be aired and explored in the safety of the counselling room. If we are willing to take such a risk, counselling rewards us with a deeper understanding of ourselves and enriches our lives with more meaning.

Whatever your situation, whether you are worried, depressed, confused, feeling bad about yourself, coping with an unexpected change or crisis, or simply wanting to make some changes in your life, it is helpful to talk things over with an understanding and well-trained “outsider”.

The first meeting with a counsellor is used to discuss whether continued counselling will meet your needs. It is important to give the counsellor an honest account of your situation, and also to be prepared to ask questions so that you can be sure that counselling is what you want, and that the counsellor is a person that you can work with comfortably.

Confidentiality

The time with me, your counsellor, is confidential and information will not be passed to anyone without your consent. I work within the Ethical Framework of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Among other things, this ensures that the counselling process is confidential.

Equality

I actively oppose oppression and discrimination against people because of their gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, disabilities, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, class, HIV status, or because they have been in contact with mental health services.

I have had extensive experience of working with children and adults in abuse related issues and bereavement, abuse and trauma.

Fees

I offer a free 15 minute, no obligation consultation. Please call me on 07713 184762 or email me to arrange this.

Each session of counselling is for 50 minutes anId the charge of £50 for Henley-In-Arden and £60 in Knowle due to additional room hire charge.

Hello Counselling offers a variety of payment options including :

• Cash or
• Bank Transfer

I ask that a 50% deposit is made upon making your appointment and the remainder to be paid at the end of your appointment. 24 hours cancelation is required, for cancelations made in less than 24 hours notice the deposit will not be refunded.

Counselling and Children

Children are generally very resilient, and what can seem a problem one minute, is often forgotten about later in the day. They can squabble with their best friend and be all smiles the next. Yet there are times when children struggle to cope with external factors that may be affecting them. Even with the most nurturing of home environments, children can find it difficult to make sense of, or talk about how they are feeling.I have worked extensively with children who have experienced trauma, abuse and bereavement along with many other difficulties.

In younger children, emotional problems may manifest in a disinterest in playing, trouble going to the toilet, spending long periods of time crying or exhibiting more anger and shouting than usual.

Children absorb all of the sensory information from around them. They may not witness two parents going through a difficult patch for example, yet they will still pick up on it energetically and be just as effected emotionally and physically.

Older children may still display similar symptoms to that of a younger child, however in older children emotional issues tend to show through in the child withdrawing from themselves, becoming more isolated, spending time alone and not wishing to discuss how they are feeling. They may display a lack of appetite and particular and stark behavioural changes.

The use of counselling for children is an excellent therapy:

• Trauma
• Emotional upset as a result of divorce
• Anxiety and panic
• Bed wetting
• Nightmares
• Phobias
• Confidence
• Picky eating
• Issues relating to school

Many children do find it difficult to express how they are feeling and some may not have developed the cognitive skills to express their emotions. Sessions with children involve the use of story, talking, and drawing as a way to i talk about how they are feeling.

Children don’t come with a handbook so if your child needs a helping hand call me on 07713 184762 today for a free consultation.