Claire Ashburner

I offer counselling via Zoom which gives you the ability to reach me wherever you are, and for me to be available for you, regardless of where you live.  It means you don't have to travel to me, you can have counselling at a time that fits for you, and for you to feel comfortable because you are in your own environemnt.

Counsellor and Cognitive Behaviour Therapist (CBT)

My name is Claire and I am a BACP registered Integrative Counsellor and a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT). I work with adults, young Adults (over 18),  and couples either for an agreed number of sessions (this is not set in stone), or open-ended (which we review together as we go).

Whether you are looking for some short term support, or if you would like to explore at a deeper level over a longer period of time, I offer a warm, non-judgemental and confidential space for you to talk about your own personal world, your reflections and your feelings, and together we can look at the areas that are causing you distress. These feelings have a habit of staying at the front of our mind and can get in the way of everyday life because our issues, and how we are reacting to them, filter into home life, work life and our relationships. Unravelling layers that have built up over the years, identifying why patterns keep being repeated, or why you react the way you do, allows you to develop a clearer view and greater understanding of why you have been feeling this way.  The goal of counselling is to have an improved awareness of yourself, to be able to challenge your thinking, and be better equipped to make wiser choices that will work better for you and be more in line with your true self.

How I work

Integrative Therapy

Integrative Therapy means I have a broad range of understanding of psychotherapeutic theories and models which allows me to draw from what is appropriate and best fits the client I am sitting with.  It helps me to gain a good understanding of you, your patterns and your ways of relating and involves looking at your history.  This in turn helps you to make links from your past and how this has shaped you, giving you the new awareness to make different choices and decisions in your present.

However hard we try, our difficult feelings and insecurities will creep into other areas of our lives; our relationships, our work performance, how anxious we may feel, how angry or intolerant we are.  This will then have an impact on our own self-value, possibly leaving us with low self-esteem and affecting our confidence.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is about learning skills and tools to help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and the way you behave. It helps you manage your problems in a more positive way by encouraging you to look at how your actions can affect how you think (cognitive) and feel, react and respond (behaviour). CBT is a therapy that has a great deal of research evidence showing how effectively it works and it is especially useful in the treatment of depression, anxiety related disorders, anger issues and self esteem.

The number of sessions that you may need depends on what you need help with, so anything between 6 and 20 sessions is usual. It is advisable to have weekly sessions which are collaborative in the way they work (ie, both myself and you taking an active part), and are mostly present focussed rather than looking at getting help with difficulties and issues in your past, (but as a note, we are made up of our past and therefore it is inevitable, but not vital, that we visit some areas of your past). The techniques you learn in your therapy are tools that you can use in your daily life after therapy has come to an end.

Mindfulness

Today it is not uncommon to be caught up with what is behind us (our past) and preoccupied with what is in front of us (our future) which is necessary to some extent, but when we realise we have lost the art of being in the 'here and now' moment of the present it is a huge light bulb moment. Reacquainting ourselves with the ability to do so is the kindest and healthiest thing we can do, and essential for the platform we need in order to make different choices or make positive change. Mindfulness is an intervention that works well with any therapy model and if this interests you, or if you feel you could benefit, then I can begin by helping you to understand how to introduce mindfulness into your life.

My firm belief is that each one of us has a way of knowing what our needs are and my role is to empower and enable you to discover your own way forward and learn to trust and rely on your own instincts.  The aim being to live in a more authentic and fulfilling way.

I am familiar with working with people who live with chronic health conditions, or are coming to terms with a new diagnosis.  Loss and grief are a huge area in the struggle and I can offer support in working through this challenging experience,

If you choose we can have a 15 minute introduction chat on the phone for which there is no fee.

Individual Counselling      -      £50 for a 1 hour session

Couple Counselling          -    £60 for a 1 hour session OR £80 for a 1 1/2 hour                                                      session

• Payment to be made either before or on the day of the session
• Monthly payments can be arranged - as discussed.