Abi Newman. FdSc Counselling. Registered MBACP.

About me

In this high energy, fast paced world we can struggle to find moments to pause and reconnect to our inner wisdom. The pressure to perform and achieve, can often move us out of real relationship with ourselves and into a place of isolation and disconnection. I offer a gentle space for you to explore, connect, heal and breathe.

I work in a compassionate empathetic way, I am not detached or analytical. I work to stay in constant connection with how you are feeling in the here and now, I stay open, curious and aware to my own responses to you.

I invite a mind/body language and welcome you to be playful with different ways of communicating, making contact with your experience moment by moment. I see you as unique, I make no assumptions. I do not see you as a set of behaviours or thinking styles, nor do I see any person needing to be 'fixed'.

I understand that we can sometimes want and need change in our lives, while also feeling terrified of moving away from the familiar and safe. Finding your pace around integrating any change is something I invite while working through any inner conflicts that may present themselves. By noticing fixed patterns in the mind and body and beginning to explore the possibility of movement, you can ultimately create new choices around how you respond to life, moving away from habitual responses and being more present.

I offer a space of warmth and holding for you while you dance with the abstract and feelings of not knowing. I welcome a slowing down of experience, creating the possibility for you to deeply make contact with the subtle shifts in your felt sense and states of being, staying with both the simplicity and complexity of your experience.

I am committed to being alongside you while you discover the language that feels most authentic for you.

I am a Registered Member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). I work 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.

As a Humanistic Therapist I feel inspired by many traditions and teachings.  Working in a body based way I encourage a 'checking in' with the whole experience and integrate various ways of working to elevate awareness, this could involve:

• Traditional talking therapies: Transpersonal, Gestalt, Relational.
• Formative Psychology
• Body mapping and meditation
• Voice/sound exploration
• Creative writing
• Movement
• Breath awareness
• Visualisation work
• Ways of expressing yourself creatively
• Play

I have worked in both voluntary and paid roles within Counselling including a Bristol based charity working with people experiencing addiction, an Employee Assistance Programme, within a private healthcare setting and for a local organisation working with women who are involved/at risk of becoming involved in the Criminal Justice system.