About me
I offer people the opportunity to be heard and to make sense of their life in a holding, non-judgemental breathing space. You stop the World and, with no one making demands on you, reflect, pinpoint what’s really troubling you, get to the root cause then choose what, if anything, you want to do about it.
I can help individuals with anxiety, depression, anger, overwhelm, stress, low self-esteem and loss.
I work with couples, especially where the same “Groundhog Day” discussion or disagreement keeps coming up, escalating into a row and spoiling an otherwise good relationship. You know, those eye rolling “here we go again” moments. Hurtful destructive cycles you both seem powerless to get out of by yourselves.
I am also trained to work with those seeking freedom from emotional eating i.e. people who tend to turn to food rather than to people for support. This manifests as baffling bouts of over-eating which feel addictive, compulsive even, and which you seem powerless to stop (aka comfort eating, bingeing or binge eating).
Here is a client describing what working with me was like:
"Claire is a generous empathetic and trustworthy counsellor who gently took me through the process. She was hugely supportive when I got very emotional and made me feel very relaxed with her".
I'm an “integrative-relational counsellor” meaning once I've met you, I pick the best from several types of therapy (buzzwords like CBT, person-centred, humanistic, psychodynamic, mindfulness etc) to make a blend tailored to you rather than pushing you through the same old sheep dip regardless of your preferences or needs. Of all the factors determining how well therapy goes our therapeutic relationship accounts for *30% of likely success, and my “relational” degree taught me how to make best use of our relationship.
I run a private practice from my base in Weybridge. Before training as a counsellor I worked for 28 years in the private sector so I have insight into the stresses and strains of balancing work and life as well as experience of the ups and downs of life generally.
I'm part of The Practice UK, a team of mental health professionals dedicated to delivering full therapeutic service in an ethical, non-exploitative way for both our clients and our therapists. I've been part of the teams counselling at two Surrey GP surgeries and The Counselling Partnership, a BACP accredited charity.
It is hard to get the measure of each other from a photo and a profile so please call me on 07950 986 085 to discuss if an initial (non-chargeable) "chemistry test" session might be a helpful next step.
I look forward to hearing from you, thank you.
Warmly,
Claire
* = Assay, T. P., & Lambert, M. J. (1999). The empirical case for the common factors in therapy: Quantitative findings. In M. A. Hubble, B. L. Duncan, & S. D. Miller (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy (pp. 33-56). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
© 2016 Untangle Your Life
Training, qualifications & experience
How to do counselling on line - a coronavirus primer
Diploma in Couple Work
FdA / BA Hons in Integrative-Relational Counselling
Understanding Your Eating
Extending your skills in working with grieving people (seminar held by Dr Lois Tonkin, Cruse West Sussex)
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course
Mental Health First Aid Course
Understanding How to Support People with Dementia and Their Carers
NCFE Level 3 Award in Counselling Skills and Theory
AQA Certificate in Counselling Skills Level 2
Member organisations
Registered / Accredited
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.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership

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.

Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£60 per 50 minute counselling session (individuals)
£80 per 50 minute counselling session (couples)
Introduction to Understanding Your Eating: 5 confidential sessions run over five consecutive weeks. This can be done one to one at my individual rate or in confidential groups of 6 (£150 for each attendee).
The Introduction gives the basics then you have the option to select from nine modules going deeper into some of the issues, of necessity, only touched on in the Introduction:
Body Esteem
Self Esteem
Motivation and Empowerment for Change
Food monitoring and choice
Activity (impacts on our self-esteem, self-consciousness, sense of capability and achievement)
Self Nurture
Relationships
Feelings
Emotional Eating