About me
Welcome, my name is Deborah. Thank you for taking the time to view my profile.
It can take courage to make the first hardest step to seek help. We may find ourselves feeling stuck in a difficult situation, putting pressure on ourselves to keep everything together. Bottling things up may become draining, leaving us without a clear path forward and unable to think things through. This may lead to feeling overwhelmed, trapped, confused or powerless. Perhaps you are wondering why you feel the way you do, why old emotions are resurfacing; or why your life is not progressing as you would have liked.
Sometimes we push painful experiences out of our awareness to move forward. While this may reduce distress in the short term, it can affect our wellbeing overtime as our sense of self becomes fragmented. Recognising at this point in your life that you need someone to talk to shows you are taking the first step and that you are taking control of things.
Past experiences may influence decisions we make today. You may be experiencing anxiety, anger, frustration, low mood, relationship difficulties or struggling to regulate emotions during conflict and stressful situations. Counselling can help to recognise reoccurring patterns and explore feelings and behaviours that may be affecting your life. Counselling can help to develop greater self-awareness so we can unearth past hurts that life may bring, overcome obstacles and identify what maybe preventing us living a fulfilled life. Bringing these experiences into awareness can help to make healthier choices towards closure and healing.
Grief and loss can affect us in many ways. Whether through the death of a loved one or a beloved pet, relationship breakdown, divorce, family conflict, illness, redundancy, the children leaving home, moving house, changing life roles or loss of friendships, loss may leave us feeling numb, overwhelmed, isolated, anxious, angry or hopeless. It may also affect appetite, sleep concentration and energy levels. You may feel unfulfilled, fear later life or experience regret looking back wondering what life was all about. You may be wrapped up in lots of roles but feel lost and unable to share your feelings with others in your life. Life could have changed forever you may never like your new reality of your loss, but it is possible to learn to readjust and find acceptance of the reality of your loss. Counselling provides support through these emotions and experiences.
You may feel unheard, criticised, unaccepted or disconnected from who you really are. Perhaps you ve spent years putting others first? lost confidence in yourself or struggle with low self-esteem? identity or forming close relationships.
I offer a safe, confidential, nonjudgmental, welcoming counselling space. I hope it is a place where you can “Just Be” present in that moment of your life, to think about what is happening and what you want right now in your life. Taking some time for yourself to re connect to your world and thoughts. Exploring whatever feels most important to you at your own pace. I will be guided by you to find a starting point you can tell me as little or as much as you choose. I offer support so you can find an understanding of yourself, of how your difficulties arose and how they are affecting you now. Counselling can help to identify needs, set goals, and develop coping strategies so you could feel better equipped face with life’s challenges.
As an integrative counsellor I work holistically, considering the whole person and recognising the mind -body connection. Emotional distress often affects us physically as well as emotionally. I tailor different theoretic approaches to suit your individual needs because every person is different and what works for one person may not work for another.
At the heart of my work is a person-centred approach. I value the uniqueness of every client and take a non-directive approach, respecting your ability to make your own choices while helping you to explore the options that feel right for you. My belief is that everyone has an inbuilt tendency to want to develop towards their full potential given the right environment and support. Your ability to reach full potential may be blocked if your sense of value has been affected by certain life experiences.
Understanding your unique experience of the world is central in my work and it is essential that you feel accepted. I will walk alongside you on your journey of self-discovery as you explore thoughts feelings and experiences listening nonjudgmentally with empathy. How you see, hear and feel are unique to you: your life story is your own. Many times, in our lives we really want to be heard and need someone to listen to us. Your feelings are incredibly important, and we all need to feel connected and worthy to lead a happy life.
Counselling can develop a deeper understanding of the challenges you face, discover new perspectives towards change, growth, move beyond past difficulties, towards a more fulfilled life, reconnecting with your beliefs, values and self-worth.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a professional Counsellor and Wellbeing practitioner based near Kidderminster, Worcestershire. I have my own holistic business with over 20 years of experience supporting clients. I have worked in corporate settings, workplaces and run health and wellbeing days for the public, helping people to manage the physical and emotion effects of stress. I have experience in counselling supporting people affected by grief and loss as well as working with young people aged 12+ and adults experiencing anxiety, relationship difficulties, emotional regulation, low confidence and self-esteem.
I am a fully registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). I follow the Code of Ethics and Good Practice.
I am a registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), fully insured and have an enhanced DBS certificate.
I keep my knowledge and skills up to date, relevant information or new developments in the counselling field through continuing professional development (CPD) so I am working to the best of my ability.
Qualifications
- Pearson BTEC 5 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
- NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Counselling skills
- NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Counselling
- OCN Communicating with Confidence Level 2
- OCN Communicating Anger Level 2
CPD
- Integrating Artwork into your Counselling Practice
- How to help clients with their anger
- Moving from Anxious to Secure Attachment
- Depression and young people
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
£50.00 per session
Additional information
Counselling session is for 1 hour.
Limited concessions are available, please ask for more details.
When I work
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Further information
I offer a free-of-charge no-obligation 20-minute telephone chat, so please feel free to contact me on the number provided or you can email if more convenient. Please leave a message and a convenient time to call back on your preferred number if you find you are directed to my voicemail and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I am the only person who will access your message, and it is confidential. This is a chance to ask questions, to gain an understanding of what the counselling entails.
At this initial assessment, I ask questions to gain a better idea of your presenting issue(s) and what our work together might involve. Based on this assessment, I am able to establish if I can be of help to you.
It is important that you feel comfortable and able to work with me, and it is OK if you don’t want to continue, for whatever reason It is for you to decide that you feel comfortable enough with me to make a commitment to working together.
