Carrie Helman
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
To book a free 15-minute introductory call, please book directly through my website's booking system by clicking here.
https://parasolcounselling.co.uk/bookings/newclient/
It's so hard taking the first step to ask for help but you've done it by coming onto the Directory and you may not realise this, but that's a huge achievement.
I'm a Gestalt therapist, and this approach focuses on the whole person rather than just specific aspects of their personality or experiences. It's humanistic and aims to help clients become more self-aware, take responsibility for themselves and develop better relationships going forward in life. I look at how the past affects and influences how a client feels in the moment rather than how they felt in the past, although this does play a part. Physical responses/movements can also give me insight into the emotions that come up so I encourage clients to pay attention to what their body is trying to tell them. In a nutshell, this is a very empathic, warm and comforting form of therapy.
I'm here for YOU and YOU alone without any motive or judgement. I'm here to listen to you fully and work through whatever difficulties you may have going on in your life.
I use a variety of techniques including Sand Tray Therapy, Play Therapy, Art Therapy, Dramatisation, Dreams, etc. These techniques can help to look at feelings clients are either unable to or don't feel comfortable talking about.
Some of the general issues I support clients with are:
- anxiety
- depression
- worries around physical/sexual relationships
- physical/sexual/coercive abuse
- sexuality/identity
- financial and/or work-related concerns
- childhood/adult trauma
- bereavement/grief/loss (people/animals)
- grief/loss (losing a part of yourself due to illness/surgery)
- bullying/harassment
- low self-esteem
- body dysmorphia/body image
- end of life counselling
- gender dysphoria/sexuality
- pregnancy/childbirth/post-partum depression
- infertility/miscarriage
- jealous tendencies
- separation/divorce
- phobias
Clients I work with have also encountered a diverse range of medical, physical and psychological issues including:
- fear of upcoming surgery
- living with Bowel Disease, e.g. Colitis, Crohn's, IBS, etc.
- chronic illness
- long-COVID
- life-changing diagnoses
- disability
- chronic pain/fatigue
- worries around body image (post-surgery, weight, due to medication, etc)
- living with an ostomy (ileostomy/ colostomy/urostomy)
- dynamics in the immediate family (due to surgery or illness)
- pre-/post-surgical uncertainties
By reaching out for help you've done the hard part. Let me now help you through the rest of this process to enable you to get to a place where you're truly able to manage better going forward.
Training, qualifications & experience
I studied at Hertfordshire University and The Albany Centre and have worked with a diverse range of clients, from the young to the elderly.
I worked at a Women's Centre supporting the mental health and well-being of women over the age of 18 who suffered from coercive, physical and/or sexual abuse. I worked at Mosaic Counselling Services in St Albans with clients who brought a range of general and medical issues. I'm also linked to the NHS as a Medical Counsellor specialising in Bowel Disease and was recently invited to work with the Ileostomy & Internal Pouch Association.
As well as the Counselling Directory, I'm a member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists) and the CMA (Complementary Medical Association).
I've been interviewed on Podcasts, have had articles written in therapy magazines and am often invited to speak on Podcasts and at Medical Conferences. In addition to counselling individuals, I also run Group Therapy Sessions. I'm also in the process of writing a book
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
Medical Counselling specialising in IBD - all types of bowel disease, relationship issues and physical/sexual problems due to this, coping with an ostomy, cancer diagnoses, body dysmorphia/image, etc.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£55.00 per session
Free initial telephone session
Concessions offered for
When I work
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I don't work over weekends or Bank Holidays. I am flexible in that I see clients on certain days of the week in the evening. I don't work between Xmas & New Year.
Further information
I've been interviewed on Podcasts and had an Article printed in the September issue of Happiful Magazine (affiliated to the Counselling Directory). I've also written an Article for the Ileostomy Association Journal and have been invited as a Speaker at various Conferences.
I work from my self-contained Therapy Room in Borehamwood at the back of my house which can be accessed via a side gate. Privacy is respected at all times. I also see clients remotely via Zoom.
