Freya Bowes
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
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
Hello there,
I‘m Freya, an integrative humanistic therapist based here in beautiful Bristol. Over the years I have worked as a counsellor, I have had the privilege of supporting both individuals and couples through a wide range of lived experiences and challenges. This includes working with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship and communication difficulties, affairs, stress, bereavement, parenting and navigating life with neurodivergence or gender non-conformity. I build my counselling relationships on kindness, warmth, authenticity and mutual trust. It is important to me that you feel welcome to bring your whole self to our sessions and feel confident you can do so without fear of judgement.
Individuals/what to expect:
My work as a therapist is rooted in Person-Centred practice. Put simply, this means that I see you as the expert on your own life and experiences. As your therapist, my role is to offer a safe, supportive space in which you can explore aspects of yourself, your relationships or your beliefs which might be holding you back or no longer serving you. Alongside this, my integrative training allows me to draw from a range of therapeutic approaches, tailoring our work together to best suit your individual needs and preferences.
I work collaboratively, centring the therapeutic relationship as an integral and important part of the process. This may involve gentle questioning to support deeper insight, offering a different perspective to see how it resonates with you, using creative writing or drawing exercises to explore what you bring, or simply holding a space for you to speak openly. Throughout our work, I will take cues from you about pace and focus, so that we can co-create a way of working that feels right for you.
Regardless of what has led you to consider therapy, I believe everybody holds the capacity to change, grow, and build a meaningful life. Having an impartial and compassionate ally to empathise with you, challenge you when helpful, reassure and encourage you can be a powerful source of support. I would be delighted to hold a space for you and your story and walk alongside you in this work.
If you would like to explore whether I could be a good fit as a therapist for you, I offer a free 20-minute initial phone or video call to answer any questions you might have.
Couples/What to expect:
Perhaps you are seeking couples therapy as an MOT for your relationship -a dedicated hour each week to focus on your connection, strengthen communication and build patterns of behaviour that support your shared foundation. A space to invest in your relationship so you can meet future challenges from a place of collective strength.
Or maybe you are in the middle of a particularly challenging chapter of your relationship. You might be looking to rebuild trust following an affair, struggling to break cycles of conflict that never feel fully resolved, or finding it hard to truly hear one another during emotionally charged conversations. As your therapist, I can act as a neutral and supportive presence, so that we can work together to identify unhelpful patterns and replace them with alternative ways of relating that enable you to feel more connected and less polarised.
You might also be seeking to improve intimacy -feeling more like roommates than partners, struggling to prioritise your sexual connection when there are so many competing demands on your energy, or wanting support to navigate desire discrepancy and co-create a fulfilling sex life. Through sensitive and curious enquiry, we can explore what intimacy means to each of you, and find ways of reconnecting which feel authentic, meaningful, mutual and sustainable for you both.
In our work together, my priority is to create a safe, nurturing environment, where you both feel supported to explore vulnerable aspects of your relationship. I will spend time with you individually as well as together, so I can understand your backgrounds and perspectives, before working collaboratively to develop strategies that fit your relationship. This may include between-session reflections or in-session exercises to help translate insight into lasting change.
If you would like to hear more about how I work and further explore whether we might be a good fit to work together, please reach out and we can set up a free, no strings attached, initial consultation.
Training, qualifications & experience
- NCFE Cache Level 2 Award in Helping Skills
- NCFE Cache Level 3 Award in Counselling Skills and Theory
- FdA in Counselling with Distinction
- Post Qualifying Certificate in Relational Counselling
I recently completed a post-qualifying certificate in relational counselling with Relate (formerly known as the Marriage Guidance Council). I have always been drawn to working with couples and those in ethically non-monogamous relationships, and fascinated by the compelling work of contemporary theorists in the field such as Emily Nagoski, John and Julie Gottman, Terrence Real and Esther Perel. Relationships, whether romantic, platonic, familial or professional, are so central to our lives and our wellbeing. They play a crucial role in the construction of our sense of self, so it is no surprise that relationships and the challenges they present us with are frequently brought into the counselling room. I welcome enquiries from both individuals and couples who are struggling relationally and envisage relationships forming a central aspect of what they would like to work on in therapy.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
I have over three years experience of working therapeutically with teenagers, additionally my clinical supervisor is also trained in working with children and young people. In my private practice, I welcome enquiries from young people aged 16+. (I require parental consent to work with young people under the age of 18.)
Fees
£55.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Sessions are priced at £55 for individuals and £80 for couples.
I feel strongly that counselling should be accessible to all. If you know that the cost of sessions is a significant barrier to access for you, please feel free to discuss this with me.
Further information
As a member of the BACP, I abide by their ethical principles, and I am committed to providing a safe, confidential therapy space.
