Graham Westwell
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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
Looking for a therapist is a courageous first step to make. You may be feeling uncertain of what might come next. I have found that common themes clients bring often include: • Feelings of shame and a lack of worthiness • Being very self-critical • Feeling rejected, hurt, and alone • Stuck in relationships that are not fulfilling • Feeling that your life lacks purpose • Traumatic experiences that feel like they define you • Would it help to have a space to work through these issues and to feel greater clarity in your life? If any of these issues resonate with you then you might benefit from working with myself as your therapist.
"(PCE) therapy helps clients to heal their past and to re-write their future. As such, the relationship between therapist and client is the heart and soul of experiential therapy. A core commitment when practising PCE therapy is enabling clients to live their lives more in tune with their own inner-held truths" (Westwell, 2015, p. 64).
PCE therapy works in a process-sensitive way - bringing alive considerations such as: is this a familiar path you are walking? Is this your path of choice? What would it be like for you to choose your own path? What do you need?
I will hold a tender psychological and emotional space in which you will feel supported and safe. Within this protective space, it is my belief that you will feel encouraged to explore your own feelings and emotional process. This process helps you gain clarity and to feel less burdened by the things you are carrying.
You may be finding it difficult to choose a therapist to work with. I am available to meet for an an initial session for us to talk about what you feel you need from therapy, what I offer as a therapist, and to explain what therapy looks like. If we decide to work together, then we can also discuss mutually convenient times, for future sessions.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have been qualified as a Person Centred Experiential practitioner (Diploma in Counselling) since 2000. I trained with Pete Sanders and Mish Crouan at Person Centred Counselling Services (PCCS) in Manchester, England. I completed further training in Emotion Focused Therapy during 2012-13 with Professor Robert Elliott, at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. I also have an MSc in Counselling (from the University of Strathclyde, 2012). I recently completed a year-long Supervision training (2023-24) with Robin Shohet and Joan Wilkins at the Centre for Supervision and Team Development.
I am currently in the final stages of completing my PhD (with Professor David Murphy at the University of Nottingham). My doctoral thesis explores what it means to be 'person centred', what this looks like in practice, and how students learn to develop their own way of being person-centred. My research is also focused on what it means to be courageously committed to one's own spiritual core whilst aiming to live in a tender and open-hearted way.
I currently see individual clients and supervisees, within my own well established private practice, in my purpose built therapy room. My therapy room is a welcoming and healing space. I also see clients and supervisees online.
I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I work in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
I have facilitated counselling training since 2003, and have supported many hundreds of students within their own personal and professional development journey, over the years. I am currently Head of Programmes for Person-Centred counselling at Metanoia Institute in London.
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
£70.00 per session
Additional information
You can pay by bank transfer. If you are unable to attend a session then I would ask for you to give 72 hours notice. If you do not attend a session then the full fee would be payable.
When I work
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Further information
I believe in compassionate non-violence. I have been vegan for over 27 years as part of this practice. I am interested in Buddhist psychology and shamanic healing practices and both of these aspects subtly and profoundly inform my practice and my worldview. I am dedicated to offering genuinely empathic and compassionate therapy, supervision and training.
