Claire Richardson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
A very warm welcome to my profile. I hope that you will find the information you need here to decide whether you feel that I can help and support you with the issues that you are going through at the moment.
If you have any questions or concerns about counselling or what I can offer, please feel free to contact me, with no obligation, to talk these things through.
What I can offer you
I am committed to providing a safe, warm, professional and welcoming space where you can feel able to openly share whatever issues you are struggling with.
I have found that no matter who you are, what you have been through or are currently going through in life being genuinely heard and understood by someone else with care, empathy and acceptance, is a deeply healing process which often brings relief, calmness and greater clarity. Wrestling with intense thoughts and feelings on your own can be utterly exhausting and can often leave you feeling stuck or going round in circles. However, having a safe and confidential space to share openly and honestly with a trusted professional can lead to surprising breakthroughs and a deeper understanding of yourself, the issues you are struggling with and your relationship with others.
Ultimately, the aim is to find ways to help you live as full and rewarding a life as possible. In due course, if you are willing and feel able, we can look creatively at strategies and options tailored to your individual needs and circumstances so that you feel better equipped to deal with some of life's challenges.
Throughout our work together your well-being is paramount and therefore you choose the pace we go; how much you feel comfortable sharing with me and how many sessions you have. I will be alongside you to support and accept you without judgement whatever you decide to do.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a calm, approachable, empathic and grounded counsellor with 8 years' experience.
Before I trained as a counsellor, I worked for several years in family support for a well-known charity. Many of the parents and colleagues I worked with seemed to benefit enormously from being listened to, heard and understood. This came quite naturally to me and continues to be something that I thoroughly enjoy and am passionate about, so I embarked on training as a counsellor while bringing up my 3 children (all adults now). Alongside studying for my Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, I successfully completed the Cruse Bereavement Care training and worked as a volunteer counsellor for them for 3 years. After qualifying, I worked in the Education sector as a School Counsellor for 5 years before fulfilling my dream of setting up my own private practice working from home.
I have gained a broad experience of working with a wide variety of people from different cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and religious beliefs with an equally diverse range of issues and difficulties. I count myself as very privileged to have witnessed first-hand the major positive changes in the lives of many of the individuals that I have worked with. People's resilience and capacity to change never cease to amaze and inspire me.
Qualifications
- BA in Education and Computer Studies
- Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills
- Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies
- Awareness in Bereavement Care Foundation Course
- Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This professional body has a strict code of ethics and the highest standards of practice and confidentiality to which I adhere. As part of this, I regularly attend supervision sessions and Professional Development courses to ensure that I continue to learn and improve my skills so that I am able to provide you with the best possible and most appropriate support.
Member organisations
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
- I offer a free 30 minute consultation either in person, online or on the phone.
- Sessions are £50 per hour thereafter.
- Concessions - I have a limited number of concessionary slots for student counsellors.
- I offer flexible appointment times from Monday - Thursday from 10am - 7.30pm.
