Cath Cheshire-Neal, MBACP, Dip Couns
About me
At this time the Corona Virus is having a huge impact upon many peoples lives. It may also heighten or bring your focus to challenges or difficulties that were there already. Whether it is something that feels more directly linked to the impact of the Corona virus or something totally separate, that has brought you to be considering counselling I am able to offer a space for you to be heard and supported.
You may want things to change. You may want to feel better, feel happier. You may want to be able to cope better or to improve relationships.
Counselling can help.
We all have the potential to make change happen, to help ourselves feel better, but we may need some help and support along the way.
Wanting to change is the first step in making that change happen. Counselling can help you feel less alone, feel listened to, less judged and feel safe.
You may know what you want to work on or you may not, you may just know you want something to change. My role is being the person alongside you, to support you in making sense of challenges in life and making links to previous experiences or needs. This then enables you to learn new ways of being or relating and to thus move forward in life, feeling more empowered and with a greater sense of well being. I believe that change is possible.
I view the therapeutic relationship between client and counsellor to be fundamental to the work. I offer a confidential and safe space for you to explore what is feeling challenging or difficult. I encourage you to come along for an initial session to check whether I am the right person for you to be working with.
I work with all issues.
I am comfortable with working within a set number of sessions or open ended work.
Training, qualifications & experience
I completed my Counselling training at Leeds University, where I studied the Relational Approach. In my experience all problems have a relational base. As relationships are alive in our present and our past, I work both in the ‘Here and Now’ of everyday life and also linking back to the past, from where some of these relational experiences may have developed.
My previous experience has involved working as a Counsellor at Noah's Ark Centre and Surestart Centres in Halifax, working as a support worker for STAR (surviving trauma after rape), setting up a therapeutic allotment project for Leeds Refugee Council, delivering an educational programme of activities for BCEP (Bradford Community Environment project) and organising and delivering activities for children with a variety of special needs, including physical, emotional and behavioural. I have also worked for Solace, based in Halifax, offering counselling to Refugees and Asylum Seekers, and for Women's Counselling and Therapy Service in Leeds.
I have completed additional training including the 'Somatic Trauma Therapy' Course with Babette Rothschild and courses with PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors). I have also trained as a horticultural therapist and have completed a 'Wild Therapy' course.
My richness of experience working within community services, education and the voluntary sector enables me to meet people with openness and without judgement. I am comfortable working with people with a diversity of background, age, gender and nationality. I view my strengths as my capacity to relate and connect with people, which I view as the foundation of the work. Also my reflective capacity,which means I am always growing and learning as a practitioner, which I think enables the work to always be fresh and informed by the individual.
I am experienced in working with many different issues, such as anxiety, depression, feeling sad, relationship issues, low self-esteem, loss and separation, difficulties at work, rape and sexual assault, trauma, BiPolar Disorder/Manic Depression, sexual abuse and those listed below
Member organisations
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Redundancy
Fees
An hour session costs between £30 and £40, depending upon what feels affordable and sustainable for you. This sliding scale enables concessions to be available.
