Guy Shennan
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
About me and solution-focused brief therapy
I am a therapist who has been specialising in solution-focused brief therapy since the mid-1990s. Now a leading practitioner and trainer in this approach internationally, my work takes me around the world, though my face-to-face therapy with people takes place in Hackney, East London.
I have a fundamental belief in people and their capacities and potential, to make desired changes and to live in ways that are right and fulfilling for them. When I discovered the solution-focused approach it was like coming home, as it provided me with a way of working that fitted my fundamental way of seeing people.
Solution-focused brief therapy has been shown to be an effective approach, frequently in a relatively short space of time. And because its focus is on what people are hoping for, rather than on the problems they have been experiencing, then whatever your reasons for seeking therapy now, there is an excellent chance that you will find solution-focused therapy useful.
Contact me by email or phone for an initial discussion, and I will be happy to answer any questions you have about how I work. You can also read about the solution-focused approach on my website. If you want to go ahead, we can simply book an appointment and get started.
What to expect in your first session
An important focus in the first meeting would be on your hopes from the therapy, which would then guide all that we did from that point. This focus on hopes rather than problems is a distinguishing feature of solution-focused therapy, and it forms the basis for forward-looking, future-focused and strengths-based conversations.
I would pay careful attention to anything you wished or needed to let me know about your problems, though I would not need to ask about them in detail. What we would focus on in detail would be how you would know you were moving in the direction that is right for you, and on anything that is already happening that might support such movement. When things have become tough, we can lose sight of signs of possibility, though they will always be there.
After the first session
The number of these conversations, and their frequency, vary from person to person and would depend on what felt most useful to you. It is typically not a long-term therapy, with 3-5 sessions being common, and some people find just one or two sessions sufficient to get themselves unstuck. Others wish to continue for longer, and this is also fine. When asked to define the “brief” in “brief therapy”, Steve de Shazer, one of the main developers of the solution-focused approach, said “As many sessions as necessary, and not one more!”
Training, qualifications & experience
I have been working with adults, children, young people, families and groups for almost 40 years, in the fields of health, social care and therapy.
The seeds of my interest in solution-focused therapy were sown in the mid-1980s when I came across this then new approach while working with troubled young people in an NHS setting, and then bloomed after I began to immerse myself in learning and using solution-focused therapy from the mid-1990s onwards.
I am an accredited solution-focused practitioner with the UK Association of Solution Focused Practice, of which I am a founder member, and have a master's degree in solution-focused brief therapy from the University of Birmingham. I am also a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Other advanced training I have undertaken has been in family therapy and systemic practice, and narrative therapy, which has equipped me with skills and approaches that are useful complements to solution-focused therapy.
My original professional training was in social work, and I have maintained my registration with the statutory regulatory body for social workers, Social Work England.
I have written many articles and book chapters on the solution-focused approach, and the 2nd edition of my book, Solution-Focused Practice: Effective Communication to Facilitate Change, was published by Bloomsbury in 2019.
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
£65.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My standard fee for a 50 minute session (in person, online or telephone) is £65
Lower-cost sessions are available for people on a lower income – please contact me for further information.
When I work
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From 5 October 2022, Wednesdays will be my regular day for seeing clients, though I will be also available at other times on occasion and by arrangement.
Further information
I offer in person sessions on Wednesdays in Hackney, East London (from 30.08.22 to 20.09.22 on Tuesdays).
I have some availability on other days to offer online (Zoom) or telephone sessions.
