Hatice Ocal - MBACP (Accredited/Registered Online Counsellor)

I am an accredited Counsellor and Psychotherapist and registered member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy. I have worked with people from very diverse backgrounds.

The current Covid 19 situation has become an Existential crises of our time and can bring a lot of stress, anxiety and grief to our lives.  If you are struggling with uncertainty or anxiety, you are not alone or not on your own.  Or maybe, you have experienced a sense of loss - a loss of face to face contact with friends and family or just not knowing what is next or what is going to happen in the next few days weeks or even months? Are you finding yourself 'stuck with an undesirable situation' in a relationship that was already difficult before. It can't be easy and can feel overwhelming. Furthermore, losing a loved one to Covid 19 in the current climate is extremely hard and prevents us to have a proper ending and say goodbye to our loved ones.

I am an experienced therapist to provide you with the standard of therapy that you might be looking for as I have been offering sessions via Zoom, Skype or Facetime previously before COVID 19. What I can offer is a space for you to express how you are feeling and together we will be able to help you move to a place where you feel more in charge of your life and emotions. I can be as flexible as possible to meet your availability.

I have extensive knowledge and vast experience of working in Mental Health in the NHS - Voluntary Sector and privately and have been a member of BACP throughout my practice which means I offer my client's a high standard of care at all times. I have been working under the BACP guidelines with regular supervision and I adhere to its code of ethics.

I offer Counselling to Adults, Adolescents and Couples on short term as well as long term basis.

I work with confidential space which always holds paramount importance in the process of therapy and helps you to explore your issues, these issues may present themselves in the form of:

• depression
• anxiety
• uncertainty
• bereavement
• anger
• affecting your relationship with your loved ones due to being locked down at home, work relationship from distant working and job losses.

I aim to encourage you to develop skills to cope with your day to day and to learn how to deal with the current circumstances such as family dynamics, repetitiveness of every day living and most importantly the lack of freedom and limitations on movements due to COVID19 restrictions.

I work with a Humanistic/Integrative model, which means you are fully in control of your sessions and your therapy is self-directed to work on your issues and the meanings that you attach to them. Humanistic Therapies focus on self-development, growth and responsibilities. I seek to help individuals recognize their strengths, creativity and choice in the 'here and now'. I facilitate your therapeutic process with utmost care and professionalism.

I also work with CBT techniques where we examine the role of your thoughts (cognitions) on your emotions and behavior. In becoming more aware of your thinking patterns, we can begin to evaluate which are more and less helpful and begin to replace the less helpful ones with thoughts that are empowering and move you forward towards positive change. The end result is, helping you overcome a particular issue which you may be experiencing such as, negative rumination, phobia, addiction or insomnia.

Couples
If you have a relationship problem or are experiencing difficulties in your marriage and when both of you agree to see a Counsellor, sometimes it is best to tackle it before it is too late. Counseling will give you a neutral space where feelings may be openly expressed and heard.

Supervision
I also offer clinical supervision to Counsellors, trainee Counsellors and other practitioners working in the helping professions. Professionals seeking Supervision, I am available to set up SKYPE/ZOOM sessions and I'll be happy to help you with starting it up for you if you are not familiar with it.