Courtney Amesbury-Cooke
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This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
I offer evening and Saturday morning sessions in Edinburgh's West End. Hello and welcome. I’m Courtney, a BACP registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist. Whatever it is that’s brought you here, I’ll offer you kindness, compassion and respect in a space that encourages exploration of your full self. I believe no part of you is wrong, faulty or irrational and strive to create an open and honest therapeutic relationship where you feel safe to explore what's on your mind.
The counselling modality I use is Person Centred, though I draw on ideas from other therapies, mainly Compassion Focused Therapy. I believe you are the expert in your life, and the role of the therapist is to help you access parts of yourself that will help you thrive and grow. The therapy has no agenda - it is about you, your experiences and your goals. Whilst I will help deepen your self-understanding, you will never be pushed to discuss anything you don’t want to.
I've supported people with substance use issues, (theirs, or another person's), depression, anxiety, bereavement, physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, life transitions, navigating neurodivergence & academic issues. I promote a sense of wholeness in my approach - helping you find ways that encourage you to appreciate both the ‘helpful’ and ‘unhelpful’ parts of who you are - tuning into what they are trying to tell you, even in the midst of anger, pain, grief or inner turmoil. I particularly value working with people who feel they are very sensitive, or have been told that they are 'too' sensitive, and have completed CPD around working with Highly Sensitive People (HSPs), who are often over-represented in people who seek therapy.
I have more information about me and my approach on my website which you can access in the link above. Please note generally I can only offer weekly appointments, fortnightly appointments are very limited.
Training, qualifications & experience
As well as my Professional Diploma in Person Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy, I have qualifications in the impact of trauma on mental health, mental health peer support and suicide prevention. Alongside my counselling practice, I most recently worked for a leading Scottish homelessness prevention charity where I recently set up a new service to support people into recovery from gambling harm, both the gambler themselves and people affected by another’s gambling.
I have a specialist knowledge of substance use, having worked in the UK's only residential NHS drug and alcohol dependency service. I have provided counselling to students in a Scottish University Student Counselling service. I have also worked at some of Scotland’s leading mental health organisations, Penumbra and Samaritans Scotland.
In 2021 I set up an innovative new Peer Support programme for people living with incurable cancer for an Edinburgh based blood cancer charity. I also co-produced an award winning recovery toolkit for people living with Alcohol Related Brain Damage, voted in the top 10 of patient resources by the British Medical Association that year.
- Professional Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy (Postgraduate) - Persona Development & Training
- Counselling Skills Certificate - COSCA
- Postgraduate Microcredential - Impact of Trauma on Mental Health - University of Glasgow
- Motivational Interviewing & Challenging Stigma – Scottish Drugs Forum
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills – ASIST trained
In a 'former life' I worked in the performing and visual arts sectors and have a BA and MA in arts based disciplines, so also appreciate the power of creativity in mental health 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
Photos & videos
Fees
£55.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I charge £55 for a 50 minute session. Limited concession slots are available, please feel free to contact me for details.
In order to find out if I'm the right person for you to work with, I offer a half price introductory session. Please note that generally I am only able to offer weekly sessions, fortnightly sessions are very limited.
I offer both weekday evening and Saturday morning in person appointments.
When I work
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These are my core hours, however I may have flexibility for Zoom appointments at other times, so please do enquire.
Further information
I recognise the impact that social attitudes towards gender, sexuality, race, religious expression, neurodivergence, non-monogamy and other marginalised characteristics have upon people seeking counselling and seek to counter this in my work. I am a white cis-het neurotypical agnostic woman, but welcome working with people of all races, genders, sexualities, faiths and relationship structures.
- LGBTQIA+ allied
- Trans allied
- Non-monogamy allied
- Neurodivergence allied
