Catherine Sweeney
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome!
Counselling is for you and about you. I'd be interested to hear about the problem you're facing right now. It's easy to search online, but may be difficult to book that first initial appointment.
As it can be daunting, my aim is to offer a warm acceptance to really hear what's going on for you. I allow you the space to share and explore what's happened that's brought you here now and left you feeling unable to cope or needing more support. Whether it is being lost in painful memories, or feeling anxious and worried about the future. Perhaps you feel stuck, with little energy or time to live your life more fully now. Perhaps you feel depressed, low or sad, unable to see a clear way through, unable to make a difficult decision. Or low self-esteem, lack of confidence, leaves you unable to get what you need from your life.
Counselling can help with these issues. By empathically listening, understanding your point of view and then, with you, creatively exploring what's going on can help clarify things, raise your feelings of self-worth, or help heal the hurt and pain of loss.
Often, by you simply engaging in this process, gaining permission for feelings, whatever they are, can be freeing, and what once felt overwhelming or all-encompassing can become more manageable and leave you with the energy to face a situation or move forward. Even with things such as grief, relationship problems, anxiety, depression, panic attacks or a long-standing problem that simply won’t go away, there is often unfinished business preventing you moving forward or making choices that may benefit you. With more awareness about the patterns in your life, you then may have more options at what is best for you.
It's also important you find the counsellor or therapist that is right for you. So I encourage you to browse these profiles, trust your instinct for who feels right, who to contact. I just hope that you do contact make contact with someone and ask for the help to support you right now. What's the worst that could happen? But then also ask yourself what would be the best outcome for you?
Please contact me to book an initial assessment session First session is half price at £25 with no obligation to continue. I charge £50 for further sessions. But to start, let’s see how you and I can find you the support you are looking for to explore the dilemma or concerns that are stopping you living your life more fully right now.
- Easy access location, plenty of parking and close to Ludlow town centre.
- Comfortable, spacious,, private room.
- HALF PRICE face to face initial session at £25, then £50 if you choose to continue.
- Online sessions available via Zoom, initial session £25, then £50 to continue.
- Student rates or lower income rates available.
- Experienced, qualified, accredited, MBACP registered counsellor.
Training, qualifications & experience
My previous work as a health professional as well as writing professionally and delivering workshops, have fuelled my interest in mental health and personal development. Ten years ago, dealing with a personal crisis led me to try counselling. I admit I was sceptical about it, believing I should be able to sort my own problems in my own head. Yet it was a revelation that helped clarify what was going on for me and then able to make decisions to move forward from the stuck place I was in. A few years later, I decided to train as a counsellor and therapist myself.
I trained at The Gestalt Centre, London, on an accredited course, and obtained a Diploma in Counselling and a Post Graduate Diploma in Gestalt Therapy. This is a holistic, body-centred psychotherapy that aims to integrate thoughts with emotions and sensations to allow people to become more in touch with their whole experience, and more able to tune into present experience and begin living the life you want to live starting now.
My work has been very diverse, but I see recurring themes around anxiety, low confidence, depression, loss and bereavement, work or relationship issues or just a general sadness or loss of energy in life, wanting things to be different, without quite knowing how. Post pandemic, this seems to have become worse for a lot of people.
I also have interest and experience in dealing with issues of childlessness: infertility, miscarriage, abortion.
Also clients who are in recovery or have loved ones who are or were addicts or alcoholics. I enjoy working with young people 18+, but I am interested in seeing older clients who may have concerns about ageing, illness, loss, or may be feeling sad about how life is right now.
Here are some of the issues I have experience of helping clients with:
- addictions -drugs or alcohol
- childhood abuse
- anxiety
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- depression
- bereavement
- abortion
- fertility problems
- eating disorders
- stress
- work related stress
- bullying at work
- redundancy
- relationship or family problems
- sexuality
- loss
- suicidal thoughts
- near death experience
- low mood
- low self-esteem
- lack of confidence
Member organisations
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.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£25.00 - £50.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
ONLINE or IN PERSON sessions, the first is £25, then £50 if you wish to continue.
Reduce fees can be discussed, generally £40-£45
I have recently moved to Ludlow Shropshire and relocating my private practice there from a home annexe with its own separate access to the main house and its own loo! The room is cosy, comfortable and private. Though there is level, ramped access to the room, there is a step into the room.
The is plenty of road parking opposite and is walkable from the station or town centre. However, I can also offer face to face sessions from a comfortable room at The Mascall Centre https://www.ludlowmascallcentre.co.uk/ in the town centre.
I can offer session Tuesdays to Fridays, day time and evenings with limited availability in the evenings currently. Please contact me for the latest availability.
I have a couple of spaces left on Saturday mornings, currently 10.30am or 12.30pm.
I offer concessions for lower income workers and NHS workers. Please enquire or discuss at the initial session.
When I work
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New from 2023 working in Ludlow. Tuesdays, Wednesdays daytime and evening (limited availability) and Friday mornings. Saturday mornings (limited availability). Please enquire.
