Amy Binns
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This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I hope to offer a space for clients which is safe, confidential, creative and non-judgemental. I passionately believe that given the right environment, we have the capacity to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves. I recognise that beginning therapy can be daunting and overwhelming, so I am always mindful to work with you at your pace.
I work in a relational way, which means that I attend to the relationship between myself and clients, recognising that this can give us insight and information about other relationships and dynamics in our lives. This approach lends itself well to clients who are experiencing difficulties in relationships. I am interested in power and exploring where this lies and how it unfolds within the therapeutic work.
I have a commitment to recognising and challenging how social injustice and oppression impact our lives and unfold within our stories. Within my work, I stay alive to how these issues are held in the wider field within society and politically. Whilst we might not discuss these things directly within sessions, I believe these issues will inform how we locate ourselves within the world.
I work with an awareness and knowing of LGBTQ+ issues, with an openness and commitment to working with issues of sexuality and identity.
I offer clients the possibility to work outdoors. I find the creativity outdoor therapy can offer to be enriching for the work. This work can take many different forms, for example walking and talking, exploring one's place in the landscape and physical movement/expression. I am particularly interested in our internalised "wild" and how this can often be lost or detached from, through our conditioning.
I am currently offering online work, face to face or meeting outdoors. During the pandemic I have been exploring my practice through working remotely and enjoying the creativity that this can bring. I am a qualified and fully registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy).
Training, qualifications & experience
I have over 15 years of experience working with a diverse range of clients with complex issues, predominantly within the third sector.
Over the years I have worked for Women's Aid, rape crisis centres, counsellor in specialist services, led on a Hate Crime Mediation Service and worked with adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. I am committed to working in a trauma informed way, with issues of diversity and oppression at the heart of my work.
I qualified as an Integrative Humanistic counsellor. I have a solid foundation within various modalities including Person-Centred, Psychodynamic and Gestalt theories.
I completed a post graduate body psychotherapy diploma in Embodied Relational therapy. This training supports me to honour the importance of what our bodies are holding for us, and explore creative ways to give space for expression.
I have completed a one year training in Wild Therapy. This informs my work and encourages curiosity about the blocks we find in ourselves and how this impacts our experience of being human.
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
Fees
£50.00 per session
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Additional information
I charge £50 for an hour session. I have a limited number of concessionary rates available which I am happy to discuss upon request.
Further information
We would meet initially for a session up to 30 minutes, which is free. This would be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have and for me to ask a little about what has brought you to counselling. The hope would be for us to get a bit of a sense of each other and whether we might be a good fit to work together. If you decide you would like to proceed, we will then find a mutually suitable time for our work.
