Liz Matthews
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Feeling anxious, low or overwhelmed?
Has something happened that is causing fear, sadness or distress?
Sometimes life can be difficult and we can struggle to cope- it may feel hard just to get through the day.
The issues that prevent us from feeling happy can be about many things - a relationship, work, family, illness. We may not be aware of what is causing us to feel unhappy, we just know something needs to change, but it can be hard to know where to start – changing familiar patterns can be challenging!
At times like this, and for many reasons, it can feel difficult to talk to family and friends and we can feel very isolated and alone.
Counselling can help you to explore and understand these difficulties both past and present and support you to make positive change, leading to happiness and quality of life.
My name is Liz. I am a qualified counsellor with over 30 years experience and I am passionate about counselling. I approach therapy in various ways to suit the individual or group. Sometimes it can be hard to find the words to describe how you feel so I work creatively and together we find the way that is right for you. It can feel daunting to reach out, but please be reassured that you will be met with warmth and understanding. I will help you to feel at ease and comfortable.
I embrace the uniqueness of every individual and I believe we all have the potential to make change and overcome difficulties to promote healing. I work from a humanistic perspective, which emphasises looking at the whole individual and strives to help people fulfil their potential and maximise wellbeing. I offer face-to-face, online, phone and walk-and-talk counselling.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a counselling diploma in Person-Centred Counselling and a MA in Integrative Counselling. I am a qualified Couples Counsellor and have a Post Grad Certificate in Supervision.
I provide clinical supervision to counsellors and students as well as supervision for Mental Health Support Workers in the workplace. Being a counselling tutor and having managed student placements, I fully understand the hurdles that many students encounter.
I am also a qualified trainer and enjoy teaching on Counselling Courses from Level 1 to Diploma. In addition to this I have regularly delivered various seminars and workshops, e.g. Bereavement, Personal Development, Inner Child workshop. My love of creative therapy led me to co-author an accredited Level 5 Diploma in Creative Therapeutic Interventions, and at a later date deliver the course for counsellors in Derbyshire.
I am a registered member of BACP and adhere to their Ethical Framework. I am also an accredited registrant of The National Counselling Society. I engage in regular supervision and CPD training to keep abreast and up-to-date. I also have an enhanced DBS certificate and appropriate indemnity insurance in place.
I have many years of experience working with both children and adults, in a variety of settings.
My work with young people and their families has involved working both in school and college settings as well as in the home, both 1-1 and group therapy.
I have experience of developing and managing two counselling services, one in a busy inner city college and the other in a hospice.
During my time at the hospice I gained a great deal of experience working with people with a life-limiting illness and bereavement.
In addition to this I have a lot of experience working with trauma. I worked for several years with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, engaging in 1-1 as well as group therapy, and fully understand the impact that trauma can cause.
During the pandemic, whilst working for the hospice, I developed and facilitated therapeutic groups for NHS staff as well as implementing a 1-1 Counselling Service within a hospital.
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£45.00 per session
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My fees are £45 per 50 minute session.
I offer a discount for Student Counsellors, both for personal therapy and Supervision. I also offer a reduced rate for people in receipt of benefits.
If you are struggling to access counselling due to cost, please feel able to get in touch to discuss. I may be able to help but, if not, I will always try to point you in the right direction to access support.
I offer a free 30 min, no obligation initial session to help you decide if I am the right person for you. The counselling relationship is paramount so it is important that you feel able to work with me.
When I work
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Further information
I work flexible hours as I know it can sometimes be hard to access counselling due to work/childcare requirements. We can discuss this when you contact for an initial appointment.
