Dean Smithers
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome. My name is Dean, I'm an integrative counsellor, and I'm here to help you see through the complexities of your life to a clearer centre.
What kind of therapy do you offer?
I provide an authentic and engaging style of talking therapy that aims to meet you entirely in whatever it is you're going through, week in, week out.
My way of working is characterised by presence, empathy, curiosity, and when appropriate, just the right amount of humour. Being an integrative counsellor means I'm not limited to one modality or approach to therapy, which gives me the freedom to work intuitively with each of my clients in a way that suits our style of relationship.
What will our sessions be like?
During our time together, I'll strive to attune to you as deeply as I can so that I might step into your world; so that I might walk alongside you in it. My primary aim is to hold you in the emotional exploration of your life and experience, but we'll also be working collaboratively to help you make lasting changes that mean something to you.
Whatever it is that brings you to me, I'll always honour the unique nature of your experience rather than confine your experience to a term used to describe it (i.e. anxiety, depression, etc.)
Training, qualifications & experience
Do you specialise in anything?
Most of my work involves the processing of personal unconscious material, or making what is unconscious conscious. By doing so, we come to understand why the same things keep happening, which makes it possible to say no to repeating patterns that stunt growth and yes to growth itself.
I have experience and a particular interest in making sense of the difficulties people so often experience in romantic relationships, and welcome anyone in their 20s or 30s who find themselves lost in the chaos of those years. I also work with familial relationships and traumatic childhood events, and provide a patient and compassionate space for people in addictive relationships with things such as alcohol, sex and porn.
I'm a little nervous about starting—should I be?
To speak in the old way, therapy is both the troublesome task and the evening calm. It requires an ever-increasing degree of bravery and self-honesty from you, but its reward is far greater than its burden, so to speak, and in its fullness is reflected life itself.
Rest assured that sessions are informed by what you bring, and we'll always work at a pace most suited to you.
I hold a CPCAB-awarded Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and I'm a registered member of the BACP, whose Ethical Framework I adhere to. You can refer to this framework if ever in doubt about what constitutes good practice.
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
£60.00 per session
Free initial online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Working together...
A free introductory session is our opportunity to meet and get a clear sense of what working together might be like. You're welcome to ask me any questions you have at this stage, and I'll be enquiring more deeply into what brings you to counselling. The session will last between 30-40 minutes, and ongoing therapy will be discussed and agreed upon collaboratively if we both decide to continue.
If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to hear me. And on that note, I very much look forward to hearing from you.
When I work
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Earliest sessions start at 09:00, and my final sessions of the day at 17:00.
