Samantha Hillyer
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello! Thank you for visiting my profile.
I am a Psychotherapist and Clinical Trauma Professional and am qualified to work in two different countries (the UK and Canada). I have been seeing clients for 17 years and believe strongly that your sessions should be based around Psychoeducation i.e. helping you to understand why you are feeling and behaving the way that you do. Together, we then can work out a way forward. This helps you to be able to be your own therapist, and to be empowered about what course of action to take, based upon what your mind and body is doing.
What can Psychotherapy Do For You?
You may seek psychotherapy for a number of reasons. You may not know what brings you here, just that there is something not right, or missing.
Or there may be so many thoughts and feelings inside you that you don't know what to feel or think anymore.
I can work with you on an open ended basis or for an agreed time period, with the aim of enabling you to enhance your life and to live it more fully.
Although I currently only work with individuals and couples aged 18 and over, I have worked with people aged 5 to 86, spanning a wide range of issues and situations. I provide Couples Counselling to explore a wide range of relationship issues, as well as working individually with people.
However, experience has taught me that no two people are alike so I work differently with everyone. In this way your sessions are always tailored to you and what you bring.
About Me
It is important that you feel comfortable with any therapist you work with, so thanks for taking the time to read a bit more about me.
Many years ago, events in my life brought about feelings and thoughts which seemed almost impossible to manage. I sought, and found a really good therapist. This changed my life and, eventually, helped me to decide to follow the path of helping others today. But I know how hard it can be to contact someone like me. To feel that there is something really wrong with you because you need to do this; to worry that the therapist may judge you, may not understand you or think that you are silly for feeling the way you do.
It's OK.. I've been there.
I have a special interest in the areas of attachment i.e. - how we think, feel and act with others in relationship; developmental trauma (trauma that happens when you are a child). This includes things like a parent dying, parents splitting up, or struggling with their own mental health; neglect or abuse. In essence, developmental trauma is when a parent is either frightened because of something that is happening to them, or frightening to us. As children, we cannot understand this, and adapt in ways that can cause difficulties for us later in life. Therefore, I work with the little child inside you who may be crying out for somebody to notice;
I also have a special interest in grief, loss and change. But grief is not just about death. Grief can occur with the end of a relationship; a loss or change of job or home; children leaving home; or the arrival of a baby.
Or you may be a couple whose relationship is struggling. It may be that even though you talk every day about everyday things; who's going to do the dishes etc, you never really talk anymore. You can't remember the last time you went out together like you used to and you feel so alone. Or it may be that one of you has has an affair or is seriously tempted to and the feelings around this are terrible.
All of these, and many other life events can cause a change of identity and status that can bring feelings that are difficult to manage.
In our society, there is a pressure to push our feelings aside - to "get on with it". Yet, ultimately these feelings will surface elsewhere. I believe strongly that mind, body and spirit are linked - we may become ill because of the 'dis-ease' which we feel at the things that have happened to us. We are often conditioned from an early age to neglect what our bodies are telling us.
It doesn't have to be this way.
I have worked supporting people in various agencies for several years; from the Probation Service to Social Services, and earlier on in my career worked as a Counsellor for Age Concern, Connexions and Relate.
If you have any questions - any at all (it doesn't matter how trivial or silly they seem to you), email me or phone me, and we can talk with no obligation on your part.
Training, qualifications & experience
QUALIFICATION DETAILS
MA Counselling Practice (with Distinction) - University of Nottingham
Cyber Counselling Levels 1 and 2
Trauma, Dissassociation and Recovery: Healing the Brain
Working Online with Couples
8 week course in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Practitioners (MBSR)
Certificate in Couples and Relationship Counselling
BACP Certificate in Proficiency
Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Counselling Skills (with Distinction) - Chrysalis
Counselling Children - The Relate Institute
MA Counselling Practice (with Distinction) - University of Nottingham
Working with anger in therapy
The Impact of Domestic Violence on Women and Children
Counselling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) Level 3 in Counselling Studies
CPCAB Level 2 in Counselling Skills
In addition, I am on the Register of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I work within the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psycotherapy, and am fully insured with Professional Liability Insurance.
Member organisations
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
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
Grief
Loss
Identity
Adoption
Single parenting
Spiritual crisis
Women
Relationship Issues
Couples Counselling
Mindfulness
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 - £65.00
Free initial online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
£60 - Individuals
£605- Couples
£55 - Students undertaking recognised counselling training
I offer a FREE initial Zoom or telephone consultation to help you and I decide if I am the right counsellor for you.
