Ed Hewitt-Symonds
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello, my name is Ed and thank you for choosing to find out a little more about me and my counselling practice.
Counselling and you
There are many reasons which may have brought you to think about counselling. It may be specific issues, it may be that you are finding it difficult to understand and contain difficult emotions, or it may be that any one of the obstacles life sometimes throws at us is leaving you feel confused, overwhelmed and stuck.
I understand the difficulties and anxieties you may have in admitting that you can’t work through challenges and issues on your own, and this is ok. These may be, issues which are starting to affect your personal life, relationships, work or more specific issues such as bereavement, relationship issues such as separation or divorce, or work related issues such as stress, redundancy or retirement.
You may be hoping that whatever the challenges facing you, that these just sort themselves out on their own, while continuing to live a life of quiet desperation.
You may find asking for help is something you have never done before, and in this you are not alone, and taking that first courageous step to reach out and ask for help may be your first step on a journey to working through these challenges and towards the life you want and hope for.
You are looking for reassurance and someone who wants to try to understand you, not judge you, who is willing to listen, and not offer off-the-shelf solutions, and recognises that you are a unique individual who may be going through a difficult time in your life but one who I always believe can find the strength within you to come through the challenges life sometimes throws at us all.
Whether focused on a single issue or a wider range of issues, counselling offers a safe and secure space for you to be heard with respect, understanding and acceptance as some of the most important things around counselling are for you to feel heard, to feel able to speak freely and to feel validated.
Counselling can be the first step towards finding the right path for you, to get to a place which feels safer and enables you to live the life you want.
How I work
I am passionate in my belief that we all have the resources within us to become the truly unique individuals we all are.
My counselling practice combines person-centred and humanistic approaches but the core of this is built around offering a safe and secure relationship, and one in which you will feel able to share challenging thoughts, emotions and feelings, which will be received with respect, understanding and acceptance.
What happens in the first session?
My aim is to make you feel as comfortable as you can be, as you may be feeling nervous, especially if you are new to counselling. I will explain a little about how I work, and give you the chance to ask any questions you may have and the space to start to tell me about what has brought you to counselling. I will not put you under any pressure and we can go forward at a pace you are comfortable with. It is important that we feel able to work with each other and that there is a trust there as I understand it can feel uncomfortable saying things in front of a stranger, sharing your innermost thoughts and feelings, so the more comfortable I can make you feel hopefully the quicker this trust can be established. It may be that after the first session we decide that counselling might not be right for you and something different may be more helpful for you; that is ok and if I can help point you in a direction I will try to do so.
Who do you work with?
I choose to only work with adult clients, aged 25 upwards.
I see clients regardless of sexual, religious or cultural orientation.
I have successfully worked with clients experiencing some of the following issues :-
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Low mood
- Low self-esteem
- Life transitions (see further information and below for more about this)
- Loneliness and isolation
- Stress
- Trauma/PTSD
- Relationship problems
- Sexual, physical and emotional abuse
Please see the further information page for more about the work I do around life transitions, such as divorce, coming out of a long term relationship, losing a job for whatever reason, and, retirement (both before and after choosing to retire).
Where do you work?
I currently work F2F and online via Zoom.
When I work F2F the location offers a safe, secure and confidential space for us to work in Gwersyllt, with parking available either on the drive or kerbside, during booked sessions. Counselling takes place on the ground floor only, and is hopefully accessible to all clients.
If you have specific requirements at either location I will try to accommodate you if possible.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a qualified person-centred counsellor and psychotherapist (Dip. HE in Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy, Glyndwr University), and MBACP, a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I am also an Accredited member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society, MNCPS (Acc.) and follow their ethical and professional code of practice.
I have enhanced DBS certification but choose to only work with adults aged 18 to 80.
My private practice is based in Wrexham seeing private clients from Wrexham, NE Wales and Chester.
Until recently I have been a Senior Lecturer in Counselling at Glyndwr University, and Programme Leader, supporting students on the HE Diploma in Counselling.
Member organisations
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.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society
This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.
In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Life Transitions such as post-divorce, post long term relationship, post retirement, loss of job or business or any other significant change impacting your life.
Men's challenges around self esteem, loss of direction in life, or just coming to terms with what it means to be a male in an ever changing world.
Therapies offered
Fees
£45.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I believe counselling can make a difference for everyone but always want to make sure it is the right option for you. I encourage prospective clients to call me for an initial chat, usually 20 to 30 minutes, for which there is no charge. To find out more about my fees, options for block bookings and how to pay I would invite you to visit my Practice website: https://kaizencouselling.co.uk/
Discounts for students studying for a counselling qualification are also available.
When I work
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I am available to take on new clients across mornings, afternoon and early evening and able to see clients F2F and online.
Further information
I do have a specific interest around working with those transitions in our lives, from one stage to another, such as job changes, perhaps losing a job through redundancy, or for other reasons.
This can also include changes in relationships, such as life after divorce or moving on from a long term relationship, and I have worked successfully with clients coming out of narcissistic relationships.
I also have a particular interest in working with clients looking towards retirement, or who have retired and suddenly find life full of challenges and uncertainty which were never there when they were in work. Many individuals plan for their financial future post-retirement but give little or no thought to what retirement means for them on a very personal and emotional level.
Jobs and relationships are important in giving us a sense of who we are. If this is taken away from you, for whatever reason, it may feel like a part of your identity has been lost, and for some clients this has been a difficult challenge to make sense of, not so much what has happened but who am I now after this?
Throughout my own life I have experienced some of these challenges, and seen how they have affected me, after a divorce, being made redundant, and also taking early retirement and realising how these events made me feel and the difficult emotional challenges they created for me.
Counselling can help to make sense of this and who you really are and did for me at some of these stages in my life,and whilst my experience may be different from yours, I can perhaps empathise with some of these, and hopefully use my experiences to support clients going through similar transitions or more painful changes in their lives.