Anna Batey

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I'm an experienced counsellor working with clients with a broad range of issues, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, stress, grief, loss and general sadness.

I have a special interest in working with women who have endured pregnancy related issues including infertility, pregnancy anxiety, traumatic birth, PTSD, miscarriage, still birth and abortion. This also includes working with couples that are experiencing these difficulties, if requested.

I have extensive experience of working with anxiety, grief and bereavement.

There are times in our lives when we need to make sense of what is happening and how we are feeling. I understand that it can be hard to seek help and I offer a safe, confidential and welcoming space, where you will be met with warmth and respect. I practice from a therapy room just off Mutley Plain in Plymouth, supporting individuals who are experiencing difficulties in their lives and want to make positive changes and improvements. I also offer sessions online and over the phone.

My work uses an integrative approach, which combines Person Centred Therapy, with techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Gestalt Therapy and Mindfulness. I am also a qualified  EMDR therapist (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing). This means I can draw from different approaches to offer you the counselling that will be best suited to you, and your needs, as a unique individual.

I offer a free 20 minute video or phone consultation to discuss your needs and find out more about how we can work together.

I have a number of places that I offer at a reduced rate for trainee counsellors, where this is a requirement of their course. Please get in touch for more details.

I accept payment by cash and credit/debit card at the session, Bank Transfer (BACS) and PayPal prior to the session.

Testimonials

"Anna is a wonderful counsellor and I would highly recommend her services. I started seeing Anna during lockdown via Zoom and counselling quickly became the best part of my week. I have been seeing Anna for just over a year now and her counselling has helped me greatly. Anna is extremely professional, she makes you feel comfortable and safe to share anything that may be of concern to you. The counselling sessions have helped my anxiety greatly, but what has been the most impressive has been the level of self-awareness I have gained with Anna's guidance. I am more comfortable with myself and understand my thoughts and actions so much better now. This helps me to be in the moment and choose how I react to situations and has greatly improved my quality of life. Going to Anna and getting counselling has been one of the best decisions of my life and I am so glad I took the plunge and arranged an appointment".

"During lockdown my family experienced one of the hardest because I think anyone will ever have to go through, we got to some really low points feeling as if there was no light at the end of the tunnel. My weekly sessions with Anna were something that gave me hope for the next week, Anna never made me feel any less human and always would give me such great advice and a new outlook on the situation. Having someone there who is completely unbiased but only wants the best for you is really something I would recommend to everyone. Even my partner in the end had a few sessions with Anna because I was finding it so helpful and we realised it was something he could benefit from to. Thank you Anna for what you have done for us!"

"Thank you once again for your patience and reassurance  Anna you made a huge difference to my outlook on the situation and made me assess it from another angle. I'm so grateful for the time you invested in me. Many thanks and take care."

"I found my sessions with Anna just what I needed to help me deal with my fertility journey so far...she provides a safe, empathetic and professional space to facilitate processing of events and emotions. Anna is very approachable, I was able to be completely honest with her and she is also very person centred and able to grasp the salient themes that come up, and ask the right questions, whilst allowing you lots of time to talk. I would highly recommend her. She is also really flexible on sessions in terms of availability and number you want. "

"Having never approached a counsellor before I did not know what to expect from our sessions. Originally thinking it would be hard to share my issues with someone I had never met I felt very comfortable with Anna’s approach, feeling no pressure to rush into the things I wasn’t ready to talk about. I have been able to look at events in my life in a different way following our discussions, and having the opportunity to clear my head without judgement or criticism has been invaluable. Thank you."

"I never believed counselling would ‘work for me’ but after going through a really low time and finally accepting I needed help, I went to Anna in a pretty bad way. Anna made feel so welcome and comfortable. I feel like a different person to when I first came to her for help and I know that no matter what life throws at me I can go to her and gain the non judgmental support I need to get through it, rather than crumble under it. I am eternally grateful for her time, compassion and counselling skills and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone that needs short or longer term help, no matter the issue. Thank you. "

“Anna has helped me tremendously over the last year in both exploring my past and present. I approached her after moving countries and trying to cope best with the consequences of my decision. Having undergone therapy previously in my home country, I was concerned whether possible language barriers could affect such a personal, yet important work. To my surprise, expressing myself in a non-native language came with perks such as being more objective when describing particular situations. Anna is an excellent communicator and her approach brought a lot of clarity to our sessions. She provided a safe space for me to open up and re-explore my traumatic childhood with acceptance for myself and those involved.
Anna understood the sensitivity of some very painful events and acted as a guide to help me reveal the answers I needed in order to change the stories I used to tell myself. I remember feeling incredibly inspired in between sessions and wrote down the insights in my journal. By doing this, I could track the progress of our sessions and how empowered I often left her cabinet.
Thanks to Anna’s commitment to helping me, I was finally able to make peace with my past, release blame, guilt and fear in a safe environment, assess and take pride in my self-development, and focus on creating a life that feels entirely mine. I’m forever grateful for our sessions and recommend her with all my heart to anyone daring to explore their lives.”