Charlotte Clements
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Have you ever been told to 'stop making a fuss and just get on with it,' or that you’re ‘too quiet’, ‘too sensitive’ or conversely, that you’re ‘too much’, meaning you now don’t know what to do with your feelings or how you’re ‘supposed' to be?
I'm Charlotte, a registered psychotherapist and counsellor, based in Castle Cary, Somerset.
Since gaining my MA in 2010, I have worked with numerous people of all ages, many of whom have felt their natural feelings have been dismissed and invalidated, that they are different from the norm or somehow 'wrong'; including those who are highly sensitive, introvert or neurodivergent.
I have also helped people who've felt held back by or stuck in anxiety, shame, grief, depression and trauma and have seen countless times how restricting it can feel to worry about how people may perceive or respond to you and not be able to let go or move on from these feelings.
Perhaps you’ve been so preoccupied with what others think of you and your actions that you live according to expectations rather than your true desires, leaving you feeling unfulfilled and lost in life.
You might feel like the 'black sheep' of your family or see a sibling as the 'golden child'. This could be because you are courageously confronting and working through challenging emotions and generational trauma that others may be denying or suppressing.
If you're ready to look at what's holding you back and make some positive changes in your life, please get in touch to either book a free, no obligation, 15- minute introductory call to discuss things further or to book your first full session with me.
How therapy can help you
- In therapy, all emotions are valid. You can feel heard and accepted as you are, so you know that you matter too and that you can feel proud of your unique personality, exactly as it is.
- If you've experienced a lot of criticism or judgment, therapy can empower you to feel less self conscious, to relax and tread your own path in life, free from the worries about what other people think of or expect from you.
- Together we can work out how experiences in your past, particularly childhood, may have negatively impacted your current beliefs about yourself and the world around you. We can change those beliefs, so you can move forward knowing your true value and worth in life.
My personal experience
I know how challenging it can be to feel like there's something 'wrong' with who you are, and I also know the courage it takes to choose and stick to your own path without trying to fit in or please others to the detriment of yourself.
Some of my ways of being have come in for criticism and judgment, and in the past, I've often doubted myself.
I now view my traits of introversion and high sensitivity, as superpowers, particularly in my work as a therapist. They enable me to naturally sit with people's feelings and engage in deep reflection, helping them illuminate and address those shadowy areas that are often denied or ignored, but would greatly benefit from being worked through and released.
I’ve been brought up with a ‘stop making a fuss and just get on with it’ attitude, with little time or space to talk about or process uncomfortable feelings, past traumas or challenging situations.
I have turned this around and made a successful, life affirming career out of doing the exact opposite!
Feedback I’ve received from clients is that, after our sessions, they’ve felt heard, valued, and ‘no longer drowning out at sea but far more able to ride the waves of life’.
I’ve been described as, ‘warm, gentle, compassionate and deeply intuitive with a quality of stillness which is both containing and allowing, offering clients an experience of being accepted for who they are with no agenda’.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please get in touch.
I also have a particular interest in the 'replacement child' phenomenon and am currently researching and blogging about this. Please see my website for more details.
Training, qualifications & experience
As well as my Masters Degree, from Terapia (Middlesex University) in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents, I also have a Certificate in Counselling Skills and Theoretical Perspectives in Psychotherapy, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies from the Tavistock Centre. My initial degree was in Psychology at Sussex University.
I have always worked within the caring profession, at first predominantly working with children in many capacities including as a nanny, a 1:1 therapist and 'school shadow' with neurodivergent children, a research assistant at Great Ormond Street Hospital and as a residential social worker in children's homes.
Since starting my MA in 2007, I've worked as an Integrative Psychotherapist and Counsellor in schools, for charities and in private practice. I was a trainee for the first three years, until I qualified in 2010.
In 2012 when I returned to Somerset from London, I began running a private practice at Kilver Court, Shepton Mallet working with children, adolescents and adults to help them overcome a range of difficulties and emotions.
Over the years, I discovered that my passion lay in working with teenagers and adults. Often, even as adults, we carry around parts of our ‘inner child’ with us and in helping people to untangle childhood experiences and explore challenging emotions, behaviours and experiences, I am able to help them move forward equipped with healthy ways of managing difficult feelings.
I now work in person and online from the comfort of a peaceful upstairs room at my home in Castle Cary.
I also have a qualification as a Vegan Natural Chef from the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London, where I learnt how food can be used as medicine. I am happy to use some of this knowledge in therapy sessions if that is something that would be of interest to you.
My MA led to an accreditation with the UKCP and I am a registered member of BACP, which means I am bound by their Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions and their Professional Conduct Procedure.
I have regular individual and peer supervision and current professional indemnity insurance.
I have BUPA recognition and an up to date enhanced DBS check.
I update my CPD regularly.
Previous CPD
- Working with the Highly Sensitive Person Part 1 and 2.
- Understanding Autism.
- Introductory Transactional Analysis 101 Course.
- Family Constellation: Understanding family system, structure and dynamics.
- Forgiving Life; Forgiving death and beginning again.
- Jung and Transactional Analysis
- Secrets and Lies - Uncovering hidden truths in family histories.
- 7 keys for working successfully with men in therapy.
- Neuroscience - Introduction to the amygdala hijack.
- Working with shame in the therapy room.
- The highly sensitive person in psychotherapy.
- Mind or body - what's in charge?
- Loss - What does life mean for me now?
- Working with survivors of sexual abuse.
- Exploring challenges and strategies for positive adolescent mental health.
- Assessment and treatment of suicidality.An experience of embodied relational therapy.
- PTSD: dual awareness and the sensory nervous system.
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
I'm very interested in the 'replacement child' phenomenon. This refers to the situation where parents, who have lost a child, have another child to fill the void left by the deceased child. This new child, often referred to as the 'replacement child', may be consciously or unconsciously expected to fulfill the role of the lost child, inheriting the emotional weight and expectations that come with this position.
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
I charge £60 for a 50 minute session.
This includes face to face, online and telephone sessions.
Payment can be made by BACS before the session or by card or cash at face to face sessions.
I offer a free 15 minute phone or online introductory call.
When I work
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I'm not working the week of the 21st of October and will respond to any emails or phone calls when I return to work on the 28th of October.
Further information
You will probably feel nervous about approaching someone for help and this is quite normal. Often, once people have asked for help or disclosed something they felt they never could, they wish they had done it much sooner.
Prior to the initial session, I will email you an agreement, which includes my privacy statement and information about cancellation policy, amongst other things, as well as, a place for you to fill in your contact details. This is so you know what to expect and to see if you have anything you'd like to discuss further or have clarified before we start our sessions.
In the initial session, we will discuss what is currently troubling you, some personal history, your expectations and hopes for your sessions and I will explain confidentiality. I'll also give you the opportunity to ask me any questions.
It is important that you feel comfortable and trust your instincts when choosing a counsellor or therapist - we can have a phone call or email exchange before your first session to get a feel for who I am and how I work, if you would like to. Please get in touch to arrange this.