Mel Riley
About me
Hello, do you need someone to talk to? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by lifes problems? Or do you just need some one to talk to, who wont judge or tell you what to do before you have even finished your sentence?
Do you need the time and space to help you work out how your feeling or what to do about where you find yourself in life.
Let me offer you a warm welcome, a comfy chair and a quiet, relaxed & confidential space where you can talk and I will listen, and together we can try to sort things out or make better sense of what is going on for you.
I offer counselling to Adults, Children, Couples and families.
Book a reduced cost introductory session to see if I am the right therapist for you.
Day and evening appointments are available and I promise a speedy response to your call, email or text. You can contact me any day of the week between 9am to 8p m to book an appointment. Appointments available Mon to Thurs and Friday, Saturday & Sunday for crisis appointments only.
Training, qualifications & experience
My training has taken me all over the world, recently training with Bessel Van Der Kolk on trauma in the body and brain and in Italy. Also learning from Esther Perel Relationship expert in New York exploring working with males and masculinity in couples work.
My diplomas are in Person Centred Counselling and a Post Grade Certificate in Play Therapy, systemic and family therapy and clinical supervision and consultancy. My accreditation's are with BACP and for adult work and I am senior accredited for children and young people.
I work with adults, children, couples and families on a range of issues from Depression, Relationship Problems, Bereavement, Self-Esteem building, Addictions, Stress, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Divorce, separation etc.
I also have a therapy dog that can be used for dog phobias or to help engage clients who are difficult to reach including special needs clients.
I have experience of working in primary and secondary schools, hostels, prison and voluntary sector, charity organisations as well as working in private practice. I offer bespoke training and supervision for counsellors and other helping professions.
Member organisations
Registered / Accredited
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.
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
Accredited Register Scheme
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 also offer sessions with a therapy dog, for dog phobias or clients that may wish to work with Canine Assisted Therapy
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Individuals £75 per hour
Couples and Families £100 per hour
Qualified Clinical Supervision £75 per hour
Student Clinical Supervision £60 per hour
Reduced appoint can be applied fpr
Further information
My practice is 1 mile from Wolverhampton town centre and has free parking.
More information about me here in my video.
Testimonial
"When I entered into therapy I wasn’t at a crisis point in my life. I didn’t feel that I had major questions about myself, or actually that I even ‘needed’ therapy at all. The sole reason I began counselling was that it was required of me as part of a MA in Clinical Counselling.
I approached Mel initially because of geographical location, but after speaking to her on the phone I felt reassured by her quietly confident manner. It was unexpectedly nerve-wracking arranging to see Mel, and even more so when I arrived for the first session. I told her that despite the therapy being a requirement for me I was determined to do the process justice, be as honest as possible, and get my money’s worth! I had no idea where the sessions would lead and I began by talking about my life up to that point.
As the sessions continued I began to focus in on aspects of my life that I had never had chance to really explore. Although I ‘knew’ these things had happened, and had a sense of how I had felt about them at the time, counselling gave me an opportunity to revisit relationships, incidents, experiences and buried feelings and to start to unpick them and process them at a deeper level. With Mel’s facilitation I was often able to link experiences which had previously appeared separate, and to begin to make sense of them for myself. On many occasions I was deeply moved or shocked by the revelations that unfolded.
For me, being listened to at a deeply empathic level was very powerful. I also felt free from judgement which enabled me to be more open and honest than I have ever been- even with close friends. The result was that I achieved massive personal development and awareness, as well as a deeper acceptance of the whole of myself. This has had an impact on both my professional and personal life. For example, I now feel better able to handle difficult relationships and conversations, and I am mindful of my own unhelpful behaviours (although I’m still not always able to stop it happening at the time!). I am also more aware and accepting of my strengths and abilities. I try not to shrug off compliments as I used to, instead I take people’s feedback on board and thank them for it. If I receive ‘negative’ feedback I can handle it more robustly, and I am able to reflect on it without viewing it as a criticism.
Most importantly having counselling with Mel has increased my self-confidence and the way I feel about myself. I trust myself more to know what’s right for me, and that has been invaluable in the past few months. At the beginning of counselling I believed it was only right that I should have an insight into what I was intending to offer to my own clients after qualifying, however I was not expecting it to be such a profound experience"
Karen
