Clare Neal
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello and a warm welcome to you. I’m a counsellor for individual clients providing a calm, empathetic, inclusive, non-judgemental and safe space, in-person or online. Together we can explore your concerns – for example, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship or family issues – and work through challenging events or phases in your life at all stages from late teens to older adults. My compassionate listening and authentic interest enable your trust in being seen, heard, understood and supported.
My humanistic and Gestalt approach is holistic, addressing mind, emotions and body with counselling that's flexibly and uniquely adapted and suited to your individual issues and needs. I encourage you to notice in the moment and start trusting what your mind and body tell you. Awareness of the absence or presence of emotions or sensations sheds light both on your current experiences and on past (or imagined future) issues or life events. Exploring these together encourages you in finding greater self-understanding, acceptance and ease.
My role as your counsellor is to be a companion, always empathetic and curious about your discoveries and supporting you to make your own meanings from what you find. As counselling continues you may start to encounter new insights and perspectives, with potential to bring about self-supporting, nourishing change and growth.
In-person sessions take place a few minutes’ walk, bike or scooter ride from the centre of Cambridge and close to bus routes. Pay and display parking nearby. Online sessions are on Zoom.
Training, qualifications & experience
I’m a Gestalt Integrative Counsellor and Registered BACP Member. I trained on the Counselling Programme at The Gestalt Centre London, a leading UK provider of psychotherapeutic training.
Professional Training
- BACP accredited Diploma in Gestalt Counselling
- Certificate in Humanistic Counselling
- Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling
Education
- MA Communication, Media and Culture
- BA (Hons.) Communication Studies
Before training and working in counselling, I was a higher education lecturer, with substantial experience in teaching, supporting and mentoring young adult and older students. My field was Media Production and Media Studies and originally I had worked as a radio and television journalist.
My professional experience has always centred around genuine and empathetic interest in people at all stages of life and from diverse backgrounds. In journalism and teaching I encouraged people to understand their own stories and those of others and to develop curiosity and confidence to expand their perspectives. As a counsellor, I do the same, enabling my clients to discover new aspects of themselves, experience greater self-insight and enjoy more authentic connections with others.
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
From £70.00
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My fee for a 50-minute session is £70. I have some capacity to offer a lower session rate for clients with low or limited incomes.
When I work
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For online sessions, I can offer wider availability than my stated regular working hours, as well as flexibility with session day and time week by week, if your schedule requires this.
Further information
Next steps
You're welcome to book a free initial 20-minute Zoom call. I advise checking your spam folder for confirmation of your booking and receiving a link!
If you'd prefer, please get in touch via email or mobile phone.
Following our initial Zoom meeting or phone call, if you’d like to go ahead, we’ll decide on a chosen number of sessions, or start on an open-ended basis.
A session online or in-person lasts for 50 minutes, usually on the same day and time each week. For online sessions, I can offer flexibility with day and time if your schedule requires this.
