Chris Bestwick
Verified Professional
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verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
MA UKCP & BACP (Accredited)
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
About me
Whether you need help in managing your anxiety, relationship issues, depression or any other area of your life that feels stuck, my aim is to help you find your own way of living your life in a more complete, satisfying and resourceful manner. I focus on reconciling issues which are, in some way, holding you back or have become an obstacle in your life.
You can expect me to work with your holistic experience which means that I will tie your whole existence together and support you to understand how your feelings, behaviours and experiences are related.
I am trained in the Gestalt and Person Centred approach with Gestalt being the main theory which underpins my practice.
Part of my commitement when I work with you is to raise your awareness to areas of your life that require your attention. By heightening your awareness;
* You develop insight into the areas that brought you into therapy and understand how you can improve your current situation, without this you could be left feeling really stuck in life.
* Through your increased awareness, you can make choices.
During sessions you will notice the importance I place on building an authentic, warm and trusting relationship. I am keen to understand how you're impacted by your experiences and I will usually share my own response to what you bring.
Gestalt sessions are often lively, creative, challenging and profoundly enlightening. Imagine having someone genuinely interested in YOU and committed to helping you live the life that you choose.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a qualified and accredited UKCP Psychotherapist and BACP counsellor with twenty five years experience of working within therapeutic services.I have worked in Mental Health for a leading NHS Trust and have managed a private practice which is available to members of the public for 15 years.
Qualifications-
2011 – Masters in Gestalt Psychotherapy.
2010 – Post graduate Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapy.
2009 – Post graduate Certificate in Gestalt Psychotherapy.
2007 – Diploma in Counselling (Level 4).
2005 – Certificate in Counselling (Level 3).
1996 – Higher National Diploma in Play Specialism.
1993 – Btec National Diploma in Caring Services.
Additional training
2019 Working safely and professionally with erotic transference and counter-transference (BACP Training event facilitated by Sally Openshaw)
2017 – ‘Working with Relational Trauma’ PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors)
2017 – ‘Trauma, Dissociation and Recovery’ PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors)
2015 – Promoting safer therapeutic services.
2013 - Making Trauma Therapy Safer; Facilitated by Babette Rothschild
2013 - Safeguarding children and Young People Level 3
2012 - Mental Health Act Awareness
2012 - Mental Capacity Act & DOLS Awareness
2009 - Solihull Approach 2008 - Sexual Abuse training
2003 - Crisis Prevention
I have an up to date 'enhanced CRB check
A few examples of areas that i have experience in are;
* Working therapeutically with young people and adults who are the survivors of abuse and are living in abusive relationships.
* Working therapeutically with people who are affected by a terminal illness.
* Working therapeutically with anger and the impact of anger.
* Relationship issues.
* Difficulties with anxiety.
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.
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)
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.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
Additional information
£50 per 50 minute individual session
£65 per 50 minute couples session
I have limitted concessional places available, please contact me to discuss this further.
When I work
Monday - Thursday
Further information
I have experience of working with a wide range of difficulties however each individual can experience the same difficulty in different ways, please feel welcome to call me and we can discuss how we can work together.
