Anna Bradford

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Psychotherapeutic Counsellor - UKCP Accredited
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Nailsworth Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 0BP
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

If moving positively forwards in your life seems to be impossible, or overwhelming, it can be helpful to seek therapy.

How can I, as a counsellor with the training to work psychotherapeutically, help you?

I am a therapist who believes that given the right conditions, we all grow towards the light. Whether life feels stressful, confusing, challenging, or disappointing and pointless, it is worth taking an important step towards looking after your self, and finding a therapist who provides the right conditions for you.

I am a skilled therapist with a feeling of vitality for my work, actively engaging with my clients through attentive listening, and considered, non-judgemental responding from the very heart of me. I am open and gentle, but also not afraid to challenge the internal obstacles to your fulfilment.

Addressing the obstacles - does it take shorter, or longer term work?

You may have already identified the obstacles, having come up against them due to changing circumstances at this point in your life (such as bereavement, or loss of relationship or work), in which case shorter term counselling work for these ‘problem focused’ issues may be sufficient. Sometimes the work addresses deeper issues; this can be the result of deepening self-understanding having addressed the more apparent obstacles, or maybe you feel you have been struggling for a long time, that life in general is a problem.  This might suggest that internal, underlying reasons may be stopping you from leading a fulfilled life, in which case we can work at a deeper, longer-term psychotherapeutic level. It is important to say that I go at your pace and do not prescribe, but stay alongside you in this decision.

Counselling with me is an exploration, whereby I am alongside you, in all your diversity, really noticing how behaviour, thoughts or circumstances seem to be holding you back from allowing a full, enriching and rewarding life.

Therapy can be challenging. There can also be humour, creativity, fear, sadness or joy. At times it may simply be necessary to feel the wonderful release of offloading. I offer you this confidential, non-judgemental space to really voice your fears and desires, committing to the heart of your self, allowing you to live more consciously.

I offer you the opportunity to meet me as yourself, to express yourself free from judgement, and alongside you I believe I can help you to re-engage with a life that is yours to be lived, consciously.

What is the first step towards finding a therapist?

The first step might be to allow yourself to contact a few qualified practitioners who you are drawn to from their profiles, and from there, to find someone that you feel you ‘fit’ with. This is very personal, but is helpful in going forwards. It can be useful to ask yourself - How open can I be with this person, and in their presence might I grow to find the courage to also be really honest with myself, speaking from the most basic and true part of me?

You may feel worried about moving into this new way of opening up your possibilities, or you might even question whether you really ‘deserve’ to focus on yourself. It is quite common to feel 'stuck' even when surrounded by kind offers of help from friends and family, as sometimes the closeness can feel limiting, but learning to manage your life and feelings without others’ expectations can be very rewarding and fruitful.  Take heart and courage - I offer a brief phone call if a client has left me a message by e-mail or phone, so that you can get a sense of me. This phone call also helps me to gauge the issues you are dealing with, and whether an in-person (or online), open appraisal of the landscape you find yourself in, is the next step.

If you would like to read more about me, please visit my website.

Training, qualifications & experience

  • DipHIC - BACP accredited Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling from BCPC following 4 years of training.
  • UKCP Full Clinical Psychotherapeutic Counsellor (Accredited)
  • BCPC - member of the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling.
  • Home-Start training, accredited by the OCN, equivalent to NVQ level 2/ GCSE.

Experience

Alongside my private practice, I have worked in a number of settings such as Five Valleys Counselling Practice, Cotswold Counselling (largely seeing clients with GP referrals), Carers Gloucestershire (working with those who find themselves as carers for someone close to them, learning to find fulfilment under newly limiting and demanding circumstances), and the Low Cost Counselling Service (working with clients with limited means and issues such as homelessness, bereavement, anxiety).

I also worked as a volunteer for Home-Start, whose team of trained volunteers visit families at home each week, supporting parents in situations as diverse as isolation, bereavement, illness, disability, or who are just finding parenting a struggle. They provide non-judgemental practical and emotional support and help build the family’s confidence and ability to cope.

Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

UKCP
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.

As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.

UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

Accredited register membership

UK Council for Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

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.

UK Council for Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with

Increasingly I have been working with psychosomatic illness, often with clients who have been referred to therapy by their GP when they have exhausted the medical route.  Other clients have recognised the somatic problems or pain they are experiencing and have made a link themselves to their mental health, thereby seeking therapy.  I have specific training and experience of working with trauma, and the traumatised body, and find this increasingly in demand. 

Photos & videos

Fees

£55.00 per session
Free initial telephone session

Additional information

I offer a free 15 minute phone call, followed by an initial session at £30.  All further sessions are charged at £55.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

I offer daytime sessions from Tuesday to Thursday.

Harmonie, Church Street, Nailsworth Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 0BP

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Adults
Older adults
Employee Assistance Programme

Key details

DBS check

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

My room is at basement level, three steps down from pavement level. If you have any questions about accessibility please call me so we can find a way to support you in fully accessing my services.

Anna Bradford
Anna Bradford