Chris Matcham
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This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
My role is to help you sit with and transform unwelcome or overwhelming feelings into manageable struggles. By speaking in depth about the issues with which you are dealing, we can bring into awareness new ways of understanding and therefore living with what you are experiencing. I can help guide you through the process of making relevant changes in your life; finding your own path to a more peaceful way of being.
We would be aiming for positive transformation and greater flexibility, but the way we do this will be unique to you and your individual challenges:
Please get in touch to discuss any options for therapy which may suit you.
I work closely with people who suffer from chronic illness or live with disabilities: Whether this is a life-long condition or something that you have had to adapt to, following an accident or decline in health, interactions with the world are likely to differ from the majority. It is more difficult to get needs met in a world that does not always cater for those with less physical capacity; burdens of daily life are understandably draining, placing pressure on your body and mind. Therapy can help you to find the ways to prioritise your needs in the face of a world and society that can feel un-knowing or uncaring of your difficulties.
Loss of any kind, be it of a person, a pet, your health, a job or a once-imagined future, can alter how we perceive our lives. We may not be ready for that change when it happens, but I would invite you to speak about your fears, sadness and insecurities brought about by this bereavement. You will experience grief in your own way, whilst learning to live well without the presence of that important part of your life.
You may be dealing with anxiety or depression, caused by relationship or work/exam stress, or you may have an addiction. Maybe you are just feeling sad or anxious for no discernible reason - I seek to provide a confidential and non-judgemental space for you to express whatever you feel, so that we can find a way for you to feel better.
The ways in which we internally adapt to various external events, or adapt our world to our own feelings, physical or emotional, can have big implications for our own sense of self. Our identity is bound up with the interaction between who we perceive ourselves to be and how we perceive the world of people around us. These may be life-long challenges that you have experienced, or more recent distress caused by changes in either of these things - we can find ways to show you that you don't need to suffer unnecessarily; finding more balance and a more secure sense of You.
Online Therapy
I can see people in-person at my office in Cheltenham, but I also offer online therapy via Zoom, for greater flexibility in meeting our needs.
Training, qualifications & experience
I try to work in an empathic, person-centred way whilst combining concepts from various theories of psychotherapy, as well as neuroscientific evidence to find holistic ways of thinking about the way things are affecting your mind and body.
We may talk about your life history or how you currently see yourself within the world, but there will be a joint aim to explore the things in your life that matter to you. From there, we can start to piece together what may be keeping you from moving on and how to address these issues to reach a calmer, more flexible state of mind.
I have worked with people in London, Cheltenham and across the world in dealing with a wide range of mental health issues, treating such conditions as anxiety, depression, bereavement, anger, drug and sex addictions, eating disorders/dietary difficulties and historic trauma.
As well as my formal education/training listed at the bottom of this section, I am inspired to find other ways of working, to deepen my knowledge of what could help my clients. Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of Further Training and Professional Development I have undertaken:
Creative Writing in the Therapeutic Encounter, Zen and Therapy, Fundamentals of Couples Counselling, Working with Shame, Trauma treatment/mastery, Identity and Emancipation (existential therapy), Working with Shut-down States of Mind, The Impact of Anxious Attachment, Concepts of Bereavement, Eating Disorder Awareness...
I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), achieving Accredited status in 2021.
I am also on the directory of recognised counsellors for MS-UK, the Multiple Sclerosis charity.
Qualifications
MA in Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy, Roehampton (2016)
Post Graduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling and Organisational Dynamics, Birkbeck (2012)
BA in Italian and Psychology, Swansea (2002)
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
chronic illness and disability- I have particular experience with the effects of Multiple Sclerosis, but 'disability' is only defined as physical or mental difference to the "norms" of wider society. Many difficulties suffered by people with disabilities relate to our lives in confrontation with a world/community that may not understand the needs we have, or do not view them as important enough to adjust to.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£55.00 - £85.00
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Standard sessions paid directly: £75
Some lower-cost slots available for front-line NHS staff and psychotherapy trainees - Please get in contact to discuss
(All sessions are 50 minutes long)
When I work
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Please get in contact to discuss your needs and how best to work together.
Further information
New to Therapy? - My way of working
It can be daunting to speak to someone about issues that you may have been dealing with for a very long time. You may never have told anyone how you have been feeling and not be comfortable with sharing everything with a stranger - This is understandable.
I will challenge you to think and feel, but there will be no pressure in our sessions to go any faster or deeper than you yourself want to go. You are the only person who knows what you are feeling and your time with me is your space to express whatever you want to.
Some of the issues that counselling can help with include:
Depression
Anxiety/stress
Bereavement/Grief
Self-esteem issues
Childhood trauma or abuse
Identity issues
Anger
Long-term/chronic Illness
I'm also available on WhatsApp - 07375 814194
