Claire Dyson

I work with you on improving your relationships: your relationship with yourself, your relationship with others, your relationship with food or your relationship with your partner.

I do this by offering a non-judgmental breathing space in which you can put the World on hold 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 work with individuals like you on the things you find make Life difficult, particularly in relation to other people, so high anxiety (in essence teaching you how to befriend your nervous system, become your own "Anxiety Whisperer"), self-esteem so low it's somewhere underground, feeling overwhelmed, anger outbursts or a seeming inability to be assertive, to make yourself heard.

I work with couples on their relationship, particularly when the same old arguments keep looping round and round like Groundhog Day and escalating into a row. Those "here we go again" eye-rolling moments which can turn the emotional climate from sunny to Siberia (or Vesuvius) in "0 to 60" with just a look or a sound or a word. If you are exhausted by it yet both seem powerless to get out of this hurtful, destructive cycle by yourselves then please think about making contact with me, thank you.

I can also work with you if you have a troubled relationship with food, specifically if you turn to eating to feel better when you feel down or upset or angry (so eating to manage feelings), rather than turning to other people or coping strategies that don’t have the side effect of weight gain and with it, for some, health risks or getting stuck on the soul-destroying , self-esteem sapping treadmill of yo-yo dieting.  You may know this as binge-eating, comfort eating or compulsive eating.

I am an “integrative-relational counsellor” meaning once I have met you, I pick the best from several types of therapy (buzzwords you may have heard like CBT, person-centred, humanistic, psychodynamic, mindfulness and so on) to make a blend tailored to you. Like a bespoke scent made especially for you rather than pushing you through the same old sheep dip regardless of your preferences or needs.

Research shows* that of all the factors determining how well therapy goes our therapeutic relationship accounts for 30% of likely success, hence “relational” and my studying a degree which taught me how to make best use of our relationship.

My approach is to work with you not only on those, apparently mystifying, forces that hold you in a tangled and unhappy present but drawing on your strengths as we go so as to boost self-belief that you can untangle your life.

I run a private practice from my base in Weybridge. Before taking 5 years to train as a counsellor, culminating in a 3 year BA (Hons) degree, 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 was granted the status of BACP Accredited Counsellor by the BACP in early 2019 (this is, in effect, a quality standard for counsellors). I am also recognised by Bupa and WPA medical insurers.

I have worked as part of the teams delivering counselling to NHS patients at two busy Surrey GP surgeries and with The Counselling Partnership, a BACP accredited charity, offering counselling for anxiety and depression from three locations in Surrey.

To find out more probably the best thing to do is come along and experience what it would be like to work together by having a (non-chargeable) “chemistry test” session.

To book please call 07950 986 085 or email clairedysoncounselling@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you and to the prospect of working with you, thank you.

Until after 19th July (at the earliest) all sessions are via Zoom so please visit my website and "Working (on Zoom) through COVID-19" page to find out more about what to expect, thank you.

* = 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.