About me
Choosing a counsellor can feel a little strange. You're looking through photographs and profiles, trying to decide who you might be able to sit with and talk about things you may never have said out loud before.
I'm Howard. I'm a warm, friendly, and down-to-earth counsellor, and helping people feel comfortable and at ease is an important part of how I work. You don't need to understand counselling or arrive knowing exactly what you want to talk about. We can work that out together.
I work particularly with bereavement and loss, relationships, and the family patterns we carry through life. You may have lost someone important to you, be struggling with a relationship, or simply reached a point where you realise that something in your life needs to change.
I'm interested in you, not just the problem that brought you through the door. Our conversations can be thoughtful and sometimes difficult, but there's room for warmth, humour and ordinary human conversation too.
I work with adults and offer both face-to-face and online counselling. I also offer a free 15-minute initial conversation so we can have a chat and see whether you feel I'm someone you could talk to.
Training, qualifications & experience
My training has given me a strong professional foundation, but I believe being a good counsellor involves more than qualifications. For me, the relationship between counsellor and client is at the heart of the work.
My experience includes four and a half years volunteering with my local Mind charity, supporting people experiencing a wide range of mental health and emotional difficulties. This experience was an important part of my development as a counsellor and strengthened my belief in meeting people as individuals, rather than defining them by the difficulties they are experiencing.
My qualifications are:
- BA (Hons) Counselling Degree
- CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
- CPCAB Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies
- CPCAB Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills
My particular interests include bereavement and loss, relationship difficulties, self-esteem, and understanding the family and generational patterns that can continue to affect us in adult life.
As a Black counsellor, I also bring an understanding of how identity, culture, family expectations and generational experiences can shape our lives and relationships. You decide what is important to bring into the room, I won't make assumptions about your experience.
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
Fees
£55.00 - £60.00
Additional information
My fees are £55 for Zoom online calls or £60 for face-to-face sessions. Payment needs to be made at least 24 hours in advance to confirm your appointment.
Further information
You don't have to be in crisis to come to counselling, and you don't have to know exactly what's wrong.
Sometimes people come because they've been carrying something for a long time. Sometimes a loss has changed them more than they expected. Sometimes relationships keep going wrong in familiar ways. And sometimes they simply know they're not quite themselves.
Whatever brings you, you don't have to tell me everything in the first session. Building trust takes time, and we'll go at a pace that works for you.
If you're unsure whether counselling, or I, might be right for you, you're very welcome to start with a free 15-minute chat. No pressure and no expectation. Just a conversation.
