Claire Smith
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Whether this is your first experience of seeking therapy, or you are returning, I appreciate it can be hard to take the first step and difficult to know where to start. I can offer you a warm and empathic space where we can explore whatever is bothering you to help you understand yourself and your relationships. As a psychotherapist, I am trained to work analytically at a deeper level to help you discover how your past experiences may have influenced your current difficulties.
To help you to explore your options, I offer a free 15 minute telephone call which lets us find out about each other and whether therapy with me is suitable for you. If you wish to proceed, we will meet for an initial session of 50 minutes, for which a fee is payable. This session provides the opportunity for me to get to know you a little and for us to explore the work that you would like to do. There is no obligation, but if you decide to continue we can agree on the framework of the therapy.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a fully qualified psychodynamic psychotherapist and am registered with the British Psychoanalytical Council (BPC) and have been a registered member of the BACP since 2020. I initially trained as a psychodynamic counsellor but completed my psychotherapy training at The Westminster Pastoral Foundation in London in 2022.
Psychodynamics is a well established modality which explores all aspects of early life and past experience, using both the conscious and unconscious mind. It often informs us about current thinking and behaviour and can enable us to understand ourselves better and to facilitate change. The relationship between the past and the present, and between therapist and client, is central to the psychodynamic therapeutic approach.
Member organisations
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.
The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is a professional association, representing the profession of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
The organisation is itself made up of fourteen member organisations and BPC accredits the trainings of its member organisations. An individual who qualifies from one of these trainings is then eligible for entry into the BPC's register.
BPC registrants are governed by a code of ethics, a policy of continuing professional development, a statement on confidentiality and a complaints procedure. The BPC is a Member Society of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Public Sector (EFPP). Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
£65.00 per session
Further information
I offer in person sessions at two locations, Epsom and Ashtead, but also offer online sessions using zoom as the platform. Both in person and online sessions can be on an open ended basis or time limited for up to 12 weeks. Normally sessions are weekly, on the same day and time, but I am able to offer more frequent sessions, if required.
