Gavin Sapsed
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
“We are not capable of healing in isolation. We need other people. We are hurt in relationship and we heal in relationship.” Diane Poole Heller
Hi, my name is Gavin.
I recognise the courage it has taken you to take this step and begin searching for a counsellor. It would be my privilege to be with you on the next steps of your journey towards healing and change.
Research shows that the most important factor in therapy is the relationship and I believe that a secure therapeutic relationship can promote meaningful change. My aim is to provide you with warmth, empathy, and safety to encourage your uniqueness to flourish.
How I work
As an integrative counsellor / psychotherapist I use attachment and person-centred theories to promote a client-centred relationship, recognising and supporting each client’s capacity to promote their own healing and well-being.
Integrating other psychological modalities including Transactional Analysis, I recognise how we can use a number of conscious and unconscious defensive behaviours to protect ourselves from emotional pain. This may mean you are guarded in your relationships, or perhaps not guarded enough. You may seek comfort where others warn of harm, or you may focus your energies on professional and / or personal goals that are hard to achieve or offer no long-term contentedness.
All of these strategies are valid and important, as they are used to keep you safe or meet your unmet needs. However, over time, these strategies can become outdated and stop us from living our lives as we want.
My role here is to listen, validate your emotions, and promote your capacity to gain awareness and make the changes that you desire for yourself.
Therapy is like a journey through the rolling countryside. At times we’re going to be in the depths of the valley, but I believe it is better to be sat here with someone’s support than struggling all alone. There will be occasions where you determinedly climb the hill, and I’ll encourage you however possible. At the crest of the hill we’ll discuss which route you wish to take next, and that may mean more valleys. My goal is to leave you on a path where the ups and downs are no longer as overwhelming, and you can appreciate the journey.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a diploma in integrative therapeutic counselling (Level 4), providing me the training to work with a number of mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, esteem-issues, and patterns of compulsive behaviours.
I have several years’ experience of working with grief and loss, including complex grief and PTSD, and have undertaken Hospice approved training in this area.
I have also worked with clients who have been in abusive relationships, with those recovering from addiction, and those with depression, anxiety, and trauma.
I have additional training and experience in compulsive behaviours, including eating disorders and addictions.
I hold a BSC (hons) in Business and IT, which I use to inform my Transactional Analysis integration and to offer online counselling securely and confidentially.
I am a fully registered member of the BACP.
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
I charge £60 per 50 minute session, with a limited number of concessionary appointments available (£40 per session) for those who are on low income, unemployed and for counselling students. Payment for each session is by bank transfer in advance.
When I work
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I am currently available for evening appointments during the week and on Saturday mornings.
Further information
I offer a free, online, no obligation, 30 minute initial consultation. This is an opportunity for you to ask me questions about my service, and for me to understand what brings you to counselling and to discuss your hopes and expectations of our work together. We can then mutually decide on the appropriate pathway forward.
If you are interested in beginning your journey of therapeutic change with me, I would be delighted to welcome you.
