Ailsa Hotson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
My name is Ailsa, I am a fully qualified Psychotherapist & Counsellor [MBACP] who creates a safe, non-judgmental, collaborative space where you can connect with deeper feelings/triggers and explore how these are causing difficulties in your life & improve your self esteem.
My approach is non-prescriptive but designed to help you find your inner resources, strengths and discover new ways of living and make positive changes to enrich your life. I am an integrative therapist and draw from a person-centred approach, I have a special interest in working with the Psychodynamic, this focuses on long-standing conflicts from the past that helps clients become self-aware and bring what is unconscious into consciousness.
People choose to have therapy for a variety of reasons, anxiety, depression, ADHD or stress. Some describe feeling empty and low, stuck or beyond full up that they cannot breathe, feelings of dread or lack of meaning/purpose in life. Whatever the reason therapy is the first step in beginning to understand why you are feeling this way and what can be done to help you.
Talking to a personal friend or sharing these feelings with someone you know can make things better for the short term, but in speaking with friends it is common to feel like you have to hold back or censor what you say for a variety of reasons, this is where therapy is different.
So how can psychotherapy help you in this way? How can you change what is not working for you? Can talking to a therapist really make you feel better?
These are natural questions to ask when you are thinking of embarking on a process that requires a leap of faith to start. Change occurs when you trust in the process of therapy, the aim of really knowing and understanding yourself leads to a better 'sense' of yourself, knowing what 'feels right' for you allows you to make choices and decisions with your eyes open. Being more connected to your feelings affords you the chance to experience an authentic, truer sense of self.
Training, qualifications & experience
I hold a Diploma Level 4 in Counselling and Psychotherapy and a BA [Hons] Degree in Fine Art, and work with clients creatively that wish to explore themselves and their experiences in a fluid way.
I worked with the NHS in a prison setting during Covid-19 helping clients come to terms with trauma & ruptures in their family, child loss and bereavement. I have also supported clients within a west London agency over a two year period who have come to therapy perhaps fort the first time not knowing what to expect.
I am invested in my development as an individual as well as a counsellor, therefore I regularly attend training courses and workshops as a part of my Continual Professional Development training.
I am a member of the British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy MBACP and have a Diploma in Therapeutic Integrative counselling. I also hold a level 2/3 certificate in Counselling skills issued by CPCAB.
I am fully qualified to work online and do so by client choice and in times where it is not possible to work face to face.
Online Qualification Awarded by the BACP and Open University.
C19OT_1 Working online Coronavirus primer.
Face to face counselling is provided in Twickenham where I am a registered member of the BACP [British association of counsellors and psychotherapists]
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
During Covid-19 I worked with women in prison for the Prison and Advice Care Trust & Surrey Probation service where I was awarded a certificate for honourable service and dedication. This lead me onto working directly with the NHS in HMP Bronzefield for Choice for Change, a Counselling agency that works with Women who have experienced child-loss in varied and different ways.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 - £70.00
Free initial telephone session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer a free initial 20 minute consultation on the phone where we both get the chance to talk to one another and you can bring in any questions you feel you would like to ask/issues you would like to explore in therapy.
After this, should you choose to book some sessions, we can then discuss availability and future options.
Therapy online is £60 - 50 minutes
Face to face is £70 - 50 mins
I believe that therapy should be accessible to all therefore I have a few low cost spaces available , please do get in touch if you are a lower cost wage or experiencing financial difficulties.
When I work
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You may call with some suggested times/days that suit you and we can look at the options that are currently available. Spaces do move so it is best to enquire directly.
Further information
Counselling or Psychotherapy?
Both terms are often used interchangeably as both overlap due to the use of similar modalities. However, counselling usually refers to short-term work aiming at targeting a specific goal bereavement being one example. Psychotherapy is generally a long-term process allowing deeper and wider reflective work. One format is not better than the other. It’s what works for you that matters the most. Both can be very powerful and a life-changing experience.
"A person is a fluid process, not a fixed and static entity; a flowing river of change, not a block of solid material; a continually changing constellation of potentialities, not a fixed quantity of traits.”
-Carl R. Rogers
