Catriona Wellesley

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Accepting new clients
Accepting new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

location_on Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 4LG
Accepting new clients
Accepting new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Do you need someone to talk to?  Are you anxious, depressed or needing support while making important life decisions or thinking about a personal or relationship problem? My aim is to offer a safe, confidential, non-judgemental space in which you and I can think together about whatever is troubling you.

I am a fully qualified, BACP registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist. I work from a quiet, peaceful consulting room, ten minutes walk from Oxford City Centre and can offer either short-term face to face therapy or more long term, open-ended face to face therapy, depending upon what is most appropriate for your needs.

If you have not had counselling before, you may be uncertain what to expect and may have gained your impressions about what counselling is like from family and friends or from the media. In a first session, for which I do not charge and which carries no obligation, I would spend an hour with you and ask you to tell me about what is troubling you at the moment, as well as asking a few questions about your family history, your health, and your current way of life. We would seek to identify the problems you feel you would like help with and decide together whether we can work together. This first assessment session will be one hour long.  If we agree to proceed with counselling, we will fix a regular weekly (or twice weekly if appropriate) time for your sessions, which will be 50 minutes long. I charge £45 per session and you will be given a monthly invoice. I require 48 hours notice of cancellation or the fee will still be charged.

Some people, especially if they are working with a very specific problem, may find that a relatively short course of counselling is sufficient for their needs.  Others may find they need longer term support. I can offer either. Many people find that simply being able to talk about their difficulties with someone who can listen in a safe, non-judgemental, confidential way, is helpful even from the start in enabling them to feel supported but also in beginning to identify areas for growth and change.

Training, qualifications & experience

Between 2008 and 2012 I trained at Oxford University as a psychodynamic counsellor and psychotherapist. I have a Diploma and MSt in Psychodynamic Practice. The psychodynamic approach to therapy acknowledges the importance of early life experience and of subconscious motivations. It is also very much a part of this approach to see the quality of the relationship between client and therapist as being at the heart of the healing process. I am also a qualified Cruse Bereavement counsellor and worked with Cruse, which is a national bereavement charity, as a counsellor from 2008-2018 and as a supervisor from 2015-2018. My training there was person centred, based on the approach of Carl Rogers, and emphasises the core values of unconditional positive regard, genuineness and empathy.

I have considerable experience in working with bereaved adults from many different walks of life.

I also work with young people. During my Oxford degree programme my training placement was in a Wantage secondary school where I worked with adolescents with a variety of problems including anxiety, depression, family conflicts, issues around parental divorce, self-harm, relationship problems and eating disorders. I gained five years of clinical experience there and currently work as the School Counsellor in an Oxford preparatory school.

As a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, I am committed to their code for ethical practice and to continuing training and professional development. I am fully insured and have regular supervision from a qualified and experienced supervisor.

Member organisations

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

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

British Association for Counselling & 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.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Areas of counselling I deal with

Therapies offered

Fees

£50.00 per session
Free initial in-person or telephone session

Concessions offered for

  • check_circle Low income
  • check_circle Keyworkers
  • check_circle OAPs
  • check_circle Students
  • check_circle Trainee counsellors
  • check_circle Unemployed

Additional information

£50.00 per 50 minute session

When I work

Weekdays 8.30-6pm apart from Monday am and Tuesday am, Saturdays 8am-11am

Further information

A parking scheme operates in this street, but we are close to bus stops in the Abingdon Road and St Aldates. The nearest car park is in Oxpens Road. We are approximately 10 minutes walk from Oxford City Centre. There are some steps to my consulting room, so I am not able to offer disabled access.

30 Western Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 4LG

Type of session

In person

Types of client

Young people (13-17)
Adults (25-64)
Older Adults (65+)