Hattie Ocal

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

I am an experienced Therapist and have been working for the last 27 years to provide you with the standard of help that you are looking for. I am currently working online -  I can offer you a space from your own comfort to talk through what your emotional needs are and how you feel about self, others and the world around you. 

If you are struggling with uncertainty or anxiety, you are not alone and left on your own. My approach as a Feminist Existential Therapist means that I am able to help you to navigate your way through life's ups and downs and overcome any difficulties that you might go through such as unconscious bias about you or you feel isolated and excluded because you feel different.

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

I offer you a confidential space with a collaborative working relationship which always holds paramount importance in the process of therapy which helps you to be you to explore your issues. These issues may present themselves in the form of:

• depression
• Identity
• anxiety
• uncertainty
• bereavement
• anger
• You might be experiencing relationship issues with your loved ones, work relationship from distant working or any form of discrimination because you are a woman or trans or non-binary or you are part of an ethnic minority community.

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, in particular Existential Therapy, focuses on self-development, growth and responsibilities. I seek to help individuals recognize their strengths, creativity and choices 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 behaviour. In becoming more aware of your thinking patterns, we can begin to make sense of 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 or issues which you may be experiencing issues like, Identity questions, phobia, addiction, insomnia or in particular judgement from others just because you are from one of the minority groups such as trans, none-binary or a woman who feels traped in an abusive relationship who would like to find a way out. 

Couples
If you have a relationship problem or are experiencing difficulties in your marriage and when both of you agree to see a Counsellor. Counseling will give you a neutral space where feelings may be openly expressed and heard and a safe place to find out what your problems are about.

Supervision
I  offer clinical supervision to Counsellors, trainee Counsellors and other Practitioners working in the helping profession. I am available via SKYPE/ZOOM and Microsoft TEAM, etc and I'll be happy to help you with setting it up if you are not familiar with it. I work with a collaborative approach to strengthen your skills and help you to reinforce who you are in order to help you to help your clients in the best way we can.

Mental Health issues in general
Insomnia
Social fear
Complex personal and social issues in general.
Cultural and identity issues.

Individual: £55 - £70

Couple: £75 - £90

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When we meet for the first time, it is important that you feel relaxed and are able to express and explore what brings you to the counselling room.

My sessions are for 50 minutes and at the end of the session, we will discuss how you have found the initial meeting. There is no obligation to book further sessions - you are free to go away to reflect on the first session and let me know if you would like to book further sessions.

Please note that the day/ time of appointments are on different rate and can be negotiated when you contact me.