Abi Newman. Registered MBACP (Accred)
About me
"To befriend our feelings, we can dance them, sing them, act them, write them, and paint them; we can creatively explore and celebrate them." Gabrielle Roth
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. I essentially work in a Holistic way, I hold a space for you to explore the the map of who you are, giving voice, movement and sound to your emotional, physical, energetic and spiritual body, allowing a process between what was, what is and what will be. I continue to feel inspired and informed by neuroscience, Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Dance Movement Psychotherapy, Shamanic teachings 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.
A 'body of work' is a collection of stories, expressions and creations brought together which in totality often takes on its own life form, I believe that we are all bodies of work, with stories, expressions and creations moving through the physical body, the emotional body, the energetic and spiritual body. Sometimes we have forgotten how to hear these parts of ourselves or translate the information being given to us, I believe in the power of offering a holding, nurturing space to relearn what we have forgotten.
Remember. Re-imagine. Re-embody.
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:Dance of Soma &Psyche (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 Skills Training
- 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
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.
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
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.
