Dr Claire Bloxsom

Welcome to my profile - I’m Claire - and firstly I want to acknowledge the courage it takes to search for a psychotherapist. It’s a really significant investment, and probably the most important thing is that you work with someone who you feel is a really good fit. For me, I think that the therapy relationship and use of that relationship is central to the success of the work. 

General Information 

I’m an Integrative Psychotherapist and trained at the Metanoia Institute in London (UKCP accred).

I have three main clinical qualifications:

- Clinical Diploma in Integrative Psychodynamic Counselling

- Clinical Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy

- MSc (with Distinction) in Integrative Psychotherapy (Metanoia Institute/Middlesex University). 

You can find out about my core training here: https://www.metanoia.ac.uk/programmes/psychotherapy/msc-in-integrative-psychotherapy/ This postgraduate level training took a required 5 years to complete.

Professional Registrations and Accreditations

I'm registered as a Psychotherapist by the UKCP (United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy) as well as registered as a Senior Accredited Registrant with the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society). You can search for me on either of these accredited registers: UKCP: https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/about-ukcp/our-register/ and NCPS: https://ncps.com/counselling-directory

My Approach to Therapy

I run a clinical practice in Nottingham working either face-to-face or online (Zoom) with adults (18+). The heart of my therapeutic approach is relational and appreciates our uniqueness as individuals and on your developing sense of ‘psychological integration’ in the cultural world. This means that I would invite you to consider ways in which you might experience a deeper sense of wholeness, connection, and comfort within yourself in relationship to others and the cultural world around you. I consider each therapy relationship to be different and unique, and so I draw on a wide variety of theoretical approaches to help us reflect on how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour may interact, converge, or diverge. For example, I appreciate the importance of the mind (thoughts), body (physiological experience), socio-political culture and oppression, how we make meaning in our life existentially, our ‘spiritual’ and creative selves, and how all these aspects can impact us in our everyday lives.
                                                                     
We all take in messages of some sort from the world and we will have our own way of reacting to these. These messages might be explicitly taken in (conscious) and direct or implicit (unconsciously taken in), say through body language, and might come from our parents, peers, siblings, larger family, from society as a whole, the media, or from our culture, racialised identity, and religion. Sometimes the messages we take in are supportive and helpful, but other times they may not support our needs and identities and this might create difficult feelings and a sense of unease and conflict.
                                                                                                
I have experience of long, mid-term, and shorter-term work, though I most typically work medium to long-term (6 months to years). I'm open to working creatively, and consider the potential role of metaphor, symbolism, the arts such as music as a listener or as a musician, and the language and sensation of the body in addition to an explicit verbal narrative. As a focus of our work would be to support your personal empowerment, I cannot 'tell you' what to do. However, I will offer suggestions and feedback that we can evaluate together. My general interactional style is actively involved and I work collaboratively and relationally. To me, 'relationally' means that I value the process of the therapy relationship we co-create together, which may be useful to use and discuss when exploring insights into your life.

Other Information

I’m very interested in the body aspects of mental health and have therefore done some additional training on this. I have completed Level 1 of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy training and am a trained EMDR therapist (levels 1,2,3). I am currently completing some training in Integral Somatic Psychology methods. 

I am a strong supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

As a musical person, I understand the psychological benefits of listening to music as well as creating and performing it. 

I have experienced both private psychodynamic counselling and private integrative psychotherapy myself for over 13 years and can therefore appreciate the therapy process from a client position. 

I do not have the facility to work with clients in psychological crisis in my private practice, and in this case I would need to refer onwards. 

I have completed the UKCP Covid-19 Online Working Guidance’

Copy and paste the link to this open access article, which is useful if you are still wondering what integrative actually means. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4707273/#__ffn_sectitle

• I have past experience working with clients with an HIV diagnosis as a Buddy in London in the 1990s, and have worked with HIV positive clients as an independent counsellor at a local HIV charity between 2016-2019.
• I have many years of experience lecturing psychology at University. I do use these transferable skills in my clinical work, though please note that my PhD is an academic Doctorate in Psychology for research and teaching and it is not a clinical doctorate.
• I have experience of training psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling in the West Midlands and London and have been an external examiner for UKCP Psychotherapist accreditation vivas at the Metanoia Institute, London.
• I collaborate with a national music charity and am an associate of Music and Mind - an independent organisation focused on mental health in musicians and people working in the music industry. 
• I currently also work with the New School of Counselling and Psychotherapy as a Teaching Consultant and Research Supervisor. 
• I’m a member of the Metanoia Institute (London)
• I’m a member of the Scarborough Counselling and Psychotherapy Institute. 
• I’m a Friend Member of the Black African and Asian Therapy Network.
• I”m a member of The Relational School. 
• I’m an associate member of the Association of Person Centred Creative Arts. 
• I'm a member of the New School of Counselling and Psychotherapy (London)

Please note - If EMDR is included the work, a longer session may be required which would then incur a higher end of the fee range as noted below.

I do offer some concessions as part of my practice but these lower cost/ concessionary slots are currently full and likely to be so until at least 2027. My fees range from £65-90 per session. 

If I have availability that's compatible with you, I offer a 30-45 min free Zoom video call session at no cost to get a brief sense of each other, to make a mutual initial suitability assessment, and for you ask any questions.. 

Fees by bank transfer to be paid before or within 24 hours of the session. sessions can be paid per session or in blocks per month. We just need to agree together on how it would work. 

*Important Cancellation information*

• I need three days notice at an absolute minimum for any appointment you cancel please, otherwise the fee may have to be chargeable at the agreed usual rate. If the sessions we have are face-to-face, I can’t reschedule instead of charge if the notice is fewer than three days, because of my contractual agreement on cancellations with the space I use. 

The above denotes my overall regular working times in private practice. Thursdays I consult online.Current availability is on hold, but you are welcome to enquire and ask to be on a waitlist

Premises

For face-to-face work. I work in the Park area of Nottingham. I work on both the ground floor or on the second floor. Please note due to the old building structure there is no lift at these premises.

Other qualifications and interests: 

I have a PhD (non-clinical) in Psychology (Leicester) and a first degree BSc(Hons) in Psychology (UCL) as well as a qualification in Higher Education teaching (PGCHE - Nottingham Trent University). I have 20 years’ experience in university teaching and academia (psychology, then psychotherapy).

Please note that although I regularly use skills gained from my academic psychology training to enhance my clinical practice, my PhD in Psychology is an academic Doctorate, and not a clinical one. 

Music (the Arts) and mental health:

Music and Art are both personal and professional interests of mine. I have a particular interest in the role of music in mental health, emotional regulation, and wellbeing, and have been working since Feb 2024 with a national music charity.

Some academic publications.

Bloxsom, C. & Jaspal, R. (Submitted). “Our voice as a legacy”: Trauma, resilience and post-traumatic growth among people living with long-term HIV.

Jaspal, R., & Bloxsom, C. (2023). Identity processes, stressors and mental health in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic sexual minorities. In J. Semlyen & P. Rohleder (eds.), Sexual Minorities and Mental Health: Current Perspectives and New Directions (pp. 107-133). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Jaspal, R., Wignall, L., & Bloxsom, C. (2023). Sexual health promotion among university students: A psychological perspective. In B. Taverner (Ed.), Sex Education Research: A Look Between the Sheets (pp. 197-208). New York: Routledge.

Fino, E., Jaspal, R., Lopes, B., Wignall, L., & Bloxsom, C. (2021). The Sexual Risk Behaviors Scale (SRBS): Development & Validation in a University Student Sample in the UK. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 44(2), 152-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/01632787211003950