Helena Cook
About me
Life throws so many challenges at us all. You may be affected by stress, depression, anxiety, loss, the death of a baby, ante-natal or post-natal depression or conflicts at work. You may be in crisis now or perhaps you have been unhappy about your life for a while without knowing why nor how to fix it? Perhaps you are feeling lost, lonely and struggling to sustain good relationships?
Therapy can offer a safe, non-judgmental and private space to explore your difficulties, where they might have come from, how to change patterns of behaviour and ways to seek a more fulfilling and happier life and sustain better relationships with those close to you.
I work with adults - women and men- on a one-to-one basis, generally in weekly 50 minute sessions, in open-ended therapy or in shorter term work (a fixed period of time generally to focus on a particular issue that needs urgent attention). In an initial session or two we can decide what type of therapy best fits your needs. How long therapy will last depends on you; we keep that under review as we go forward.
I have a special interest in issues around parenting, such as ante-natal and post-natal anxiety and depression; still birth; miscarriage; infertility; fears around pregnancy and birth; parenting challenges and so on. I can put you in touch with other support groups on these issues to support you alongside therapy.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am qualified as a pyschodynamic psychotherapist. In addition to my private practice, I am a Women's Health Counsellor at a major London hospital in a service attached to the maternity and gynaecology departments.
Previously I have been a human rights lawyer, a Citizen's Advice Bureau advisor and a mediator and I bring many of these skills to my therapy work.
I am accredited with BACP and UKCP and work according to their Codes of Ethics and their professional requirements, especially as regards supervision and Continuing Professional Development.
Member organisations
Registered / Accredited
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.
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
UK Council for Psychotherapy
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
Accredited Register Scheme
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
miscarriage; infertility; ante-natal anxiety and depression; post-natal depression; still birth; parenting issues
Therapies offered
Fees
Fees for regular therapy sessions are generally £70 per session.
I can occasionally offer concessions for students, people who are unemployed, low waged or who have other exceptional financial constraints. Please ask.
