Andy Rayner, MBACP, MBPsS

About me

Hello and welcome,

People from all walks of life seek counselling at times in their lives:

•       Whether you’re feeling depressed & ruminating about past experience(s); and/or anxiously worrying about what might happen in the future.

•       Sometimes people are traumatised by things that happen to them while growing up, sometimes experiences as an adult.

•       Maybe you want to explore your feelings, thoughts, reactions to other people, or make sense of their behaviour towards you.

•       Sometimes people want to make sense of losses, bereavements, and other life transitions.

•       You might have a specific issue, or sometimes things don’t feel right in general.

•       Or a sense that something is wrong, missing, or, …isn’t there more to life?

•       People often seek help when in distress but counselling isn’t just for the unwell!  It can help people to live a more meaningful life & flourish.

If any of this resonates for you then please explore my profile and contact me to see how counselling with me might help you.

Counselling has helped people with a range of concerns:

•       Anxiety

•       General anxiety disorder

•       Depression

•       Adverse experiences in childhood

•       Adult trauma

•       Bereavement and loss

•       Adjustment to change/transition

•       Relationship concerns

•       Work stress

•       Enduring mental health distress

•       Autism spectrum concerns

My approach is to:

•       Offer short-term and open-ended/long-term, face to face, counselling to individuals.

•       Meet with people at the same day & time each week.  Occasionally, more frequently.

•       Offer Monday (daytime & evening) appointments and on Saturdays.  With prior arrangement I may be able to offer appointments at other times also.

•       Create a welcoming, safe, non-judgemental, and confidential space for people to explore and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours about whatever is the concern because I appreciate the idea of counselling can feel scary and picking up the phone to make that first call is sometimes a big step.

•       Begin with a brief phone conversation, or email if that is more preferable, so I can understand a little about your concerns.  Followed by an initial consultation, during which we will discuss your concerns more fully, what you might be hoping for from the work, whether I might be the right person to help, and, importantly, try to work out whether we get on well enough to work together.  Together we will agree how to proceed thereafter.

•       Integrate ideas and strategies from a number of approaches e.g. humanistic, psychodynamic and analytic, CBT, plus others.  Also draw on the latest research and developments in the field of neuroscience.

•       Form these into a client centred, philosophically coherent approach aimed towards a more complete & authentic way of living.

•       Emphasise the client-counsellor relationship at the heart of the therapy.

About Andy:

•       Presently I work as a counsellor in private practice, and counsel & assess for several charities.

•       One of the most important parts of a counsellor’s training is reflecting on their own life experiences: I have come to my training later in life first having seen a little of how life can go.  And, I have been able to make sense of things through my own counselling, so I understand the trials & tribulations involved with taking up this kind of work.

•       I am passionate about empowering people to live authentic, richer, & more meaningful lives, by bringing a deeper psychological understanding to our experiences and relationships.  For me, it is important to help individuals in distress and as much as human distress is universal; I am also mindful how each individual is different and experiences their distress uniquely. I see both counselling and education as important & helpful towards going about this.

•       When not counselling, or involved with my other work, I like to divide my time between family & friends, being, especially in the out-doors, and my music interests.

•       Before training as a counsellor I had a career in industry and in the health & social care sector.  Currently, I am also a specialist tutor in the mental health field in education.