Laurence Swain

Hi. I am a professionally qualified, experienced 'integrative' counsellor/psychotherapist registered and accredited by the BACP. As an integrative counsellor I have a broad understanding of most of the main therapeutic models. This means that I can tailor the therapy to suit the unique needs of each person by drawing on aspects and techniques from a number of different approaches. Please feel free to look at my website www.laurenceswain.com and don't hesitate to contact me by phone or email to discuss your situation.

Life can be very difficult and feel like it makes no sense and that there is no way forward. I offer a confidential, comfortable and supportive space where you can begin to explore and understand whats driving these negative thoughts and emotions. Speaking with a qualified therapist that you trust and feel comfortable with can make a huge difference to your wellbeing. Getting another perspective from someone outside of your social circle can be an incredibly helpful and positive experience. Nothing changes or gets better if we don't take the time to explore how we are seeing things, how we think, how we feel and how we behave. In my experience, just making a few small changes or breaking a few bad habits can be the first and most important step forward to creating a more contented life.

I specialise in working with depression, low mood, anxiety, general anxiety disorder (GAD) worry, stress, panic disorder, low self esteem, loss of confidence and assertiveness and relationship issues.

My belief is that difficult life events, past or present can often leave us feeling dissatisfied, miserable, lonely, vulnerable, worried, nervous, agitated and unable to see any sense of purpose or meaning in our lives.

Should you happen to have private medical health insurance I am a BUPA registered provider, no: 30047374. Aviva registered provider, no: 600108078. AXA PPP registered provider, no: LS02234

I am happy to introduce you to the principles of Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy [CBT] that can help you gain control over your negative thoughts. Thoughts are just thoughts, they are not facts!! and beliefs are just beliefs, they are not facts!! [this idea, understandably, can take time to make sense of, and needs lots of practice but is a massively important part of understanding psychological health]                      

I firmly believe that by providing you with a safe, confidential and non-judgemental environment, we can work together to explore new possibilities, consider new perspectives and help you develop new ways to manage your life in a calmer and more contented way.

My aim and goal as a therapist is to seek to understand your experience of life from your perspective and help you develop new ideas and implement more positive habits that you can then draw from, for the rest of your life. The thought of making changes is often difficult and scary but very possible. In my personal and professional experience, we all develop bad habits, you can label or diagnose them as psychological disorders or mental health conditions, if you want! but that doesn't help anything or anyone. Habits/dysfunctional patterns of behaviour that have been hanging around for a long time become familiar and are bound to be hard to break, however, once clearly identified and understood they can be sent packing.

Below is an example email from an ex client:

Hi Laurence, I hope that you're enjoying the nice weather and had a good bank holiday?  As promised I have written a few paragraphs to recommend your services.  Please see below, I hope that this is useful! :)I have suffered with anxiety all of my life and have suffered from low moods and depression on and off since a teenager.   Shortly after Christmas I felt again at an all time low.  Over a long period of time I had isolated myself from friends, family and my partner and felt totally overwhelmed with negative thoughts.  I had very low self esteem and performing everyday tasks felt like a battle and interacting with anyone felt incredibly difficult. I found the sessions I had with Laurence invaluable and would'nt hesitate in recommending his services.  I found the practical support incredibly helpful to identify my negative thoughts and empowered to find different ways of thinking/acting. It was such a relief to have someone to confide in and I was really amazed at how much better I felt simply to get off my chest the thoughts and feelings I had been experiencing.  Laurence was very easy to talk to and made me feel at ease immediately. Since completing the sessions I have signed up to achieve a Diploma at work (something that I would have found impossible previously).  I have renewed relationships with friends and have been able to open up and be more authentic.  I’m now going out and socialising and allowing myself to have fun.  I am able to challenge my negative thoughts and override these where necessary.  For the first time, in a long time, I am positive about myself and looking forward to the future.

I can provide short and longer-term therapy which can be discussed and agreed at the initial assessment session and reviewed regularly throughout our work together.

I have been an accredited member of the BACP for 14 years and adhere to their codes of conduct and safe ethical practice. I maintain the highest standard of confidentuality within my work. As part of my commitment to continued professional development I have successfully completed an additional qualification in 'counselling for depression' [CfD] backed by the government's recent IAPT programme and the BACP. I am one of the first counsellors in the UK to have successfully achieved this specialist 'counselling for depression' status.

I feel passionately about my work and I am committed to delivering the highest standard of care and support to all my clients. If at any point I felt your needs could be better met by another therapist/specialist or organisation I would recommend an onward referral.

For any other information about my practice please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Relaxation and techniques from hypnotherapy and mindfulness.

I also use aspects and techniques drawn from psychodynamic therapies.

Daytime £65.00 [9am to 5pm]
Evenings £70.00 [5pm to 9pm]