Cath Cheshire-Neal

About me

What is Counselling?

Counselling is a space where you can be with another human being, a space where you are not judged and have the opportunity to be deeply listened to and your experiences valued and understood. It is a confidential space, where you are able to be all of who you are, the shining parts and the parts that may be hidden from the world. In my experience, this profound experience of being seen and heard allows for an opening and for blockages to be moved. It helps enable you to move towards embracing your life now rather than feeling trapped in the past.

Who am I? What do I believe?

I have now been working as a therapist for nearly 10 years, both in private practice and for Organisations. One of the things I enjoy most about my private work is the possibility of long term work, to be able to work at depth. My original training was in the Relational Approach, an Integrative Approach, a combination of Person Centred and Psychodynamic. I have since done a lot of training and work around the impact of trauma and unmet relational needs. My more recent training in Wild Therapy and mindfulness has heightened my belief that the power of the work of change is very simple. It is about connection; connection with ourselves, with others and with our wider world. It is also about timing, being ready to face, with support, experiences or parts of ourselves that may feel overwhelmed or too much to bear.

I believe warmth, compassion and kindness are the foundation of counselling. But I also believe strongly in the importance of firm boundaries to keep the work safe. I bring myself to our work together; an openness, curiosity and a belief in the possibility of change and growth. I bring my experience and knowledge and also my humanity to our work together. I support insight and develop awareness and a deepening and broadening of understanding and experience, which can enable a freeing and shifting from old patterns and reactions. Thus new options and possibilities and directions become available.

A shaking off of what is old and no longer needed. I bring a Faith that, although not always easy, it is possible to move forward in life.

How do I work?

I work with whatever you bring to the session. Often this is experiences and feelings in the present. Then through inquiry, noticing and exploration, making links to past situations and relationships. My experience is that through this process of making connections, in the long run there is an alleviation of symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Things can began to move and flow when the time is right.

Outdoor Therapy

Aswell as working in my therapy room at the Birchcliffe Centre in Hebden Bridge, I also work outdoors. This may be walking and talking, it may be sitting somewhere or a mixture of both. This can be explored and worked out together. If you were interested to learn more, please do not hesitate to ask.

Are you ready to make changes?

Something has lead you to be looking at therapists on Counselling Directory. This suggests that maybe the timing feels right for you. It is a brave thing to take that first step to recognise that you may want support. Counselling is not always easy, it takes courage and strength to step up, to recognise that something needs to change and you want to do something to make that change happen. You may not know what or how, or you may. Both are OK. In my experience that is all part of the journey, part of the work together, the power of having someone alongside you as you face what may feel hard to face.

What now? What is the next step?

Finding the right therapist to work with is essential for the journey of change and growth to be able to happen. So if you want to send an email or speak on the phone, I would be really happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. If you then wished to continue, we would arrange an Initial session, which is an opportunity to meet each other, explore what brings you to Counselling and see if it feels right to continue working together. If it felt right for both of us, we would agree a day and time that worked, and generally continue with weekly sessions, which keeps the work together focused and alive. We would explore together whether you had a set number of sessions in mind or whether you wished the work to be more open ended, reviewing as we went along.

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 in many different settings including within Surestart Centres, working with refugees and asylum seekers, within women organisations, setting up an allotment project and in educational settings.

In addition to my original training I have also completed 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