Virginia Nicholls
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I have been a counsellor since 2010, and specialise in the following areas:
Anticipatory grief - Anticipatory grief is the period of time where your loved one has been given a life changing diagnosis to their health and you are waiting for them to die. The time span of this waiting can be extremely short or it can go on for years (especially with dementia and some cancers). Life changes for the person with the diagnosis, but also for their partner/spouse and family/friends as they often become the primary carer.
Counselling at this time of waiting, can allow you the space to express a whole range of emotions that you don't want to express at home. It can also be a place to work out practical problems that you may be facing as you live through the waiting period.
Bereavement, grief and loss - Loss does not have to be just mourning a loved one who has died. Loss can be redundancy, loss of health, a broken friendship, marriage breakdown, failure in exams, death of a pet etc
Counselling at a time of grief or loss, can help process what is going on for you. Grief or loss brings up a huge range of emotions that sometimes cannot be expressed with other family members, so counselling gives the opportunity to look at what you are feeling and thinking, as well as come up with a plan on how to take one day at a time.
Trauma reactions - can be caused be a single event such as an accident, sexual assault, physical attack, or natural disaster or long term events such as childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, financial abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse or discriminatory abuse. People can store these trauma events in their mind and body.
EMDR Counselling can help release stuck emotional and physical responses to trauma such as anger, panic attacks, phobias, flashbacks, withdrawing, not eating, or excessively drinking, or physical pain in the body.
Sex and Porn Addiction - is a behaviour or thoughts that you feel has been compulsive. It can feel like you are being controlled by the urges. You may have tried to stop many times and the behaviour just keeps coming back. The behaviour is unwanted and potentially damaging your relationship, or starting a relationship, damaging your finances and other parts of your life.
Counselling will help you understand the triggers behind the urges, constructive ways on changing the unwanted behaviours and work towards a positive and healthy sexual life.
Partners with sex or porn addiction - It can feel like your world has ended when you find out your partner is addicted to looking at porn, or seeing a sex worker. There is a level of trust that has been broken and you may feel you will never recover from the shock.
Counselling can offer a space to express your pain and confusion, as well as look at practical ways in rebuilding your relationship (if that is what you decide to do) or support you in the change of leaving the relationship behind. Discovery of porn or sex addiction in your partner is also traumatic, and so counselling can help in releasing trauma reactions, flashbacks etc that you may be experiencing.
Next step
If you want to ask some questions before booking an initial appointment, then please contact me. I offer a free 10 minute chat to discuss what you want from counselling.
About me:
It is not easy for a counsellor to talk about themselves, as most of the therapy is focussed on you and I'm there as your listener, encourager, comforter, challenger. So, here are a few facts about me - I've been divorced, I've remarried. I have no children. I love jogging, walking, reading, travelling and seeing friends. I have recovered from porn addiction.
I am a Christian, but I do not bring my beliefs into the counselling room unless you wish for Christian counselling. I am a counsellor who happens to be a Christian. I came into counselling because of my many own experiences of sitting in the client's chair!
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications:
Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Counselling 2010
Certificate in Christian Counselling 2006
Level 5 Diploma in Sex Addiction Counselling - March 2017
EMDR Europe Trained Therapist - April 2021
Training:
In my training I was a volunteer counsellor at The Information Shop for Young People in Burgess Hill and also spent 3 years at St Peter and St James Hospice as a bereavement counsellor.
Membership:
Accredited Registered Member with the BACP (British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists).
Member of ACC (Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions)
Member of EMDR Europe
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.
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.
The Association of Christian Counsellors and Linked Professions is a professional body representing and setting standards for Christian counselling and care in the UK. The organisation is made up of various different membership categories, including Counsellor and Accredited, and requires all members working as counsellors to undertake Continuous Professional Development on a regular basis.
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
Porn addiction
Working with partners of sex addicts and porn addicts
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£45.00 - £65.00
Free initial telephone session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I can offer a free 10-15 minutes phone call chat to discuss your reasons for coming for counselling and decide together if I am the right counsellor for you
When I work
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Monday to Thursday:
9.30 am to 8.00 pm
Day off: Fridays
I aim to reply to phone and email enquiries with 12 hours
Further information
The first/initial session is an opportunity for you to talk about your reasons for coming for counselling. I will do a fair amount of listening while you explain why you want to have counselling. I will then explain how I work in therapy and suggest a plan of action of what the sessions may look like. We will work together in agreeing a plan. Sometimes, this can take a few sessions to work out, as I gather more information about your life and how you see the world.
