Claudia Smith

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Accepting new clients
Accepting new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

location_on Margate CT9 & Aylesbury HP22
Accepting new clients
Accepting new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

I am a fully qualified Psychotherapist with a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy (CCPE) in Paddington, London.

I am UKCP accredited and abide by their Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.

My approach integrates learning and skills from 5 years of psychotherapy training and 7+ years of private practice.

I have recently completed a Research Masters in Psychotherapy titled ‘Dyslexic or a Human Being? A Transpersonal Perspective on Labelling.’ Specifically, my research explored my own experience as a person with a dyslexia diagnosis (given age eight) and how the ablest systems that we are measured against can cause feelings of shame, inadequacy and lack of confidence. 

 I have more than eight years of previous experience practising as a yoga instructor and hold a degree in Fine Art. I like to encourage my clients to use whatever medium they favour to help the therapeutic process – this might mean using breath, movement and relaxation techniques as well as using art materials to express ideas and thought where words are hard to find.

I taught English to foreign students from 2007 to 2009 and speak Spanish (I am not quite fluent enough to conduct a full therapy session in Spanish, but I do have a good grasp of the language).

I am currently volunteering at Margate-based charity A Perfect Place to Grow and taking part in an Intermediate Training Programme in Non-Violent Communication and Conflict Resolution with Yoram Mortensen.

Training, qualifications & experience

Main Qualifications:

  • Psychotherapy Research Masters (awaiting results)
  • Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (UKCP & BACP)
  • RYT200 (Registered Yoga Teacher)
  • Fine Art BA (Hons) 

Some environments I have worked in:
As a Psychotherapist:

  • Private Practice: 2017 – current (sabbatical taken to complete Research Masters in Psychotherapy)
  • Facilitation of Second Year Gestalt Psychotherapy Module of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Diploma, CCPE, 2021-2023
  • Women and Health, A Women only community-based health centre offering NHS-funded, where I provided short-term Counselling and Psychotherapy. Camden.
  • Neuropsychiatry Outpatient Ward, where I provided both short term and long term psychotherapy, Kent and Medway NHS. Sevenoaks.
  • The Caravan, Drop-in counselling and psychotherapy service where I provided both drop-in, short term and long-term psychotherapy. St James’s Piccadilly.
  • FreshStart Psychotherapy, A community Interest Company offering low-cost, where I provided long-term psychotherapy. Paddington.

As a Yoga Teacher: 

  • Self-Employed: I have experience hosting and facilitating day, weekend and weeklong yoga workshops and retreats, as well as regular weekly yoga classes where I learned to manage a range of needs in a group situation.
  • NHS: Teaching Yoga to male residents of a psychiatric recovery unit and to resident women on an acute psychiatric unit both within the NHS Mental Health Trust.
  • Body and Soul Charity: Teaching yoga and volunteering with adults living with HIV and AIDS.

CPD (Continual Professional Development), including Conferences, Seminars, workshops and Certificates:

  • Addiction. Affliction? Or a guide to wholeness? With Lynn Somerfield
  • Attachment Theory in Clinical Practice (short course) with Orit Badouk-Epstein at The Bowlby Centre
  • De-escalation Training alongside other induction training with the NHS
  • Certificate in Clinical Assessment Skills from WPF
  • Implicit Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology - Theory and clinical tools to access the biology of Trauma and recovery and restoration of the essential self. with Abi Blakeside
  • Lasting Love with Esther Perel - The School of Life
  • Nonviolent Communication, 'Connecting in Conflict' with Yoram Mosenzon
  • Shame Matters Conference - The Bowlby Centre
  • The Hungry Ghost, A Biopsychosocial Perspective on Addiction… - Gabor Mate
  • Total Yoga Nidra Teacher and Facilitator Training with Uma and Nirlipta Dinsmor-Tuli
  • Wholeness in Fractured Times - a real-world understanding of the nervous system and feminine sexuality & Activate your Inner Jaguar with Kimberly Ann Johnson (Somatic Experiencing)
  • Well Women Therapy with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli
  • Wild Power: Embrace your menstrual cycle, reclaim the feminine path to power with Alexandra Pope, Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer
  • Workaholism with Gabor Mate - Confer
  • Yoga for the Mind Conference - The Minded Institut
  • Yoga for ME and Chronic Fatigue with Fiona Agombar

Other interests:
From an early age I have expressed myself through the body, music and art and feel this mode of expression is helpful in accessing seemingly inaccessible thoughts and feelings where words might be insufficient. I am interested in the symbolism and phenomenology of our individual lives and the culture we live in and how in exploring our 'symptoms as symbols', we have a tool to discover what our unconscious is trying to communicate.

Member organisations

school Registered / Accredited

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.

UKCP
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.

As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.

UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

Accredited register membership

UK Council for Psychotherapy
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.

UK Council for Psychotherapy

Areas of counselling I deal with

Other areas of counselling I deal with

I have recently completed a Research Masters in Psychotherapy titled ‘Dyslexic or a Human Being? A Transpersonal Perspective on Labelling’. Specifically, my research explored my own experience as a person with a dyslexia diagnosis (given age eight) and how the ablest systems that we are measured against can cause feelings of shame, inadequacy and lack of confidence. I also explore how a dysregulated nervous system can make it much harder to carry out challenging tasks such as reading and writing and how, with the help of a ‘regulated other’ in psychotherapy, we can learn to self-regulate. Tools that aid this are self-compassion practices, breathing practices and somatic practices, to name a few. When we are able to self-regulate, it is easier to achieve difficult goals and be in challenging situations.

Photos & videos

Fees

£80.00 per session
Free initial telephone session

Concessions offered for

  • check_circle Low income
  • check_circle Students
  • check_circle Unemployed
  • check_circle Refugees

Additional information

Fees and all other practical information are discussed during an initial phone call.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

Please contact me via email for availability at the following locations: Margate | Aylesbury | Online 

Further information

Assessment
We will have an initial assessment where we will explore your needs and whether I am the right person for you to see. Each therapist comes with their own skillset so should I not be the right therapist for you I will point you in the direction of someone better suited.

Little Kimble, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP22

Type of session

In person
Online

Types of client

Young adults (18-24)
Adults (25-64)
Older Adults (65+)

Key details

DBS check info

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

Additional languages

Spanish

Spanish - although I have a good hold on the language I would not conduct the session in Spanish.

Online platforms

Skype
Claudia Smith
Claudia Smith