Garden Studio. Westbury-On-Trym
Bristol
BS9
Abi Newman. Registered MBACP (Accred)
Email meAbout me
‘When you are a body, when you experience yourself totally as a body, then you are somebody… And when you don’t have that you very easily experience yourself as a nobody’ –Laura Perls
I am a fierce believer in people, I know that we all have the potential to meet and integrate our power and wisdom, I also know that being human and being in body can be a challenging experience, I offer a space for you to move into, move with and move through what has been and continues to be held in body, mind, story and sense of self. My psychotherapeutic approach is humanistic, body-focused and process-oriented. I continue to feel inspired and informed by neuroscience, Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Dance Movement Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing.
Our sessions together will depend upon where the process takes us and could include dialogue, body awareness, breath-work, authentic movement, formative Psychology (shaping and re-shaping somatic emotional responses), body mapping and meditation, ecotherapy (strengthening your relationship with nature), voice/sound exploration, creative writing, gesture and posture, body dialogue, somatic storytelling and body-gestalt techniques.
I encourage a bodymind language, this means honouring the whole of your experience in the here-and-now, acknowledging the stories that are held in the body and giving space to explore the inner landscape. The body can hold places of pain, joy, unspoken truth and so much more, modern neuroscience shows the importance of working with and through the body, as we are constantly responding to the world through our somatic experience and sense of safety/threat.
The body remembers our life story and can hold trauma, by working with different states that the bodymind enters into you can become aware of protective patterns, functions of the shapes we take and deeply written survival instincts, by finding places in the body that can provide an anchor into more safety you not only have a valuable resource, you can find sustainable change.
Acknowledging the stories and language of your body can offer another dimension to therapeutic work and creates a space to explore the difficulties in your life that do not seem to move or change simply by talking about them. Sessions can be an interactive experience, working with the body (felt-sense), mind (thoughts) and emotion (connection and relationship).
In my experience working in an embodied relational way invites us to be courageously gentle and deeply curious in our ever evolving relationship with who we are, it allows us to acknowledge holding patterns both somatically and emotionally, glancing back at where those holding patterns began and the function of them in our lives in the here/now. It can also begin the process of reconnecting the parts of ourselves that may have become fragmented or lost along the way.
‘We hold in the places we weren’t held.’ Ruella Frank
Training, qualifications & experience
Experience and inspiration
I have over 10 years’ experience of working in both Voluntary and Private mental health settings; residential and non-residential in the UK and overseas in various roles. I have seen and experienced the healing effect of truly meeting someone through relationship and being alongside people in moments of challenge/pain and joy/celebration. I am inspired by a Humanistic way of being in relationship, full of spirit and curiosity.
I am an accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, working in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy. I have regular supervision and I am committed to ongoing growth through professional development. I attend courses and workshops that are open to all therapeutic practitioners not purely Psychotherapists and Counsellors, I feel this expands my own awareness and deepens my understanding of what it is to be human and what it can look like for us to heal.
My work draws on both body-centred and person-centred approaches, I continue to be inspired by the Therapeutic work of Peter Levine: Somatic Experiencing, Stanley Keleman: Formative Psychology, Nick Totton: Embodied-Relational Therapy, Babette Rothschild: Somatic Trauma Therapy, Ruella Frank: Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy, Eugene Gendlin: Focusing and the Psycho-Spiritual work of Sandra Ingerman.
Alongside my work as a Therapist, I offer 1:1 Body Mapping retreats (non-residential) and group experiences. I am also a qualified Level 2 Reiki practitioner.
Qualifications and longer courses
- FdSc Counselling
- Certificate in Counselling Skills
- Post qualifying Diploma in Eating Disorders: Brain, Body and Mind
- Certificate in Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy (completing in 2021)
- Bodylistening programme - A grounding in body psychotherapy and deep bodywork
- Dance of Awareness Practitioner training
- Somatic Body Mapping Practitioner Mentorship
- A Level Psychology
- NVQ 2 & 3 Health and Social Care
Short courses and workshops
- Exploring the Root of Developmental Trauma: A Somatic Perspective
- Introduction to Somatic Experiencing
- Disordered Eating: Working With and Through the Body/Mind of Patient and Therapist
- Moving and being: Exploring creative ways of being in relationship to self & client
- Women Who Run With The Wolves Creative Soul Retreat
- Body Healing Coach Diploma
- Acupressure Workshop: The Vagus Nerve – The Missing link to Health, Connection and Intuition
- 8 week Mindfulness Course
- DBT Diploma
- Mindfulness based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Advanced Diploma
- Somatic Body Mapping Intensive
- Creative writing for Therapeutic Purposes
- Embodied relational therapy: The Wild Nature of Embodiment
- Embodied relational therapy: Trance and Transference
Work placed training and workshops
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
- Understanding Personality Disorder Training
- Understanding Autistic spectrum
- Working with individuals with Learning Difficulties
- Motivational Interviewing
- Drugs and Alcohol Awareness
- Co-dependency Training
- Alcoholics Anonymous Training
- Identifying and Responding to Families Experiencing Domestic Abuse
- Safeguarding Adults and Children
Areas of counselling I deal with
- Abortion
- Abuse
- Addiction(s)
- ADHD
- Affairs and betrayals
- Alcoholism
- Anger management
- Anorexia nervosa
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Anxiety
- Asperger's syndrome
- Attachment disorder
- Autism
- Avoidant personality disorder
- Bereavement
- Binge-eating disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Bulimia nervosa
- Bullying
- Cancer
- Career counselling
- Carer support
- Child related issues
- Chronic fatigue syndrome/ME
- Depression
- Disabilities
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Drug addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emotional abuse
- Family issues
- Gambling
- Gender dysphoria
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Hearing voices
- HIV/AIDS
- Hoarding
- Infertility
- Internet addiction
- Learning difficulties
- Low self-confidence
- Low self-esteem
- Miscarriage
- Narcissistic personality disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Panic attacks
- Passive aggressive behaviour
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Physical abuse
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Postnatal depression
- Pregnancy and birth
- Psychosis
- Redundancy
- Relationship problems
- Schizoid personality disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizotypal personality disorder
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Separation and divorce
- Sex addiction
- Sex problems
- Sexual abuse
- Sexuality
- Smoking
- Spirituality
- Stress
- Suicidal thoughts
- Trauma
- Work-related stress
- Young carers
Photos & videos
Fees
Therapy
Initial 1 hour face to face Introductory session £30
1 hour: £45
1½ hours: £60
2 hours: £75
Body Mapping
Can be integrated into the Therapeutic work or we can discuss a series of one to one body mapping sessions
Therapy in Nature Fees
Walk and Talk Therapy (60 minutes)- £45
Further information
Garden Studio Space
Tucked away at the bottom of my garden is the Garden Studio, you will be surrounded by life and landscape, sounds of nature and the world outside. You do need to walk down steps, across grass which has a steady slope downward and some decking.
I do recommend wearing footwear that supports this as it can get rather slippery after some rain.
Maps & Directions
Bristol, BS9
Type of session
| Online counselling: | Yes |
| Telephone counselling: | Yes |
| Face to face counselling: | Yes |
| Home visits: | No |
Practical details
| Sign language: | Unspecified |
| Other languages: | None |
Accessibility
| Wheelchair access: | No |
Availability
Sunset (after work) and Sunrise (before work) sessions available. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Types of client
| Young people |
| Adults |
| Older adults |
| Organisations |
| Employee Assistance Programme |
