Jacqui Miller
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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
Jacqui Miller (MBACP) - Dip. Couns - One-to-one counselling therapy - Azure Dragonfly Counselling
Hi, my name is Jacqui and I am a qualified, experienced, and registered (MBACP) therapeutic counsellor.
I welcome individuality and diversity, am neurodivergent-affirmative, and an LGBTQ+ ally.
I support clients who are experiencing issues such as stress and anxiety, and who may be feeling overwhelmed. I also help people wanting to explore and develop their sense of self and identity - improving areas such as confidence, self-belief, self-esteem, and self-worth.
I draw on different elements from a variety of psychological theories and approaches - giving you opportunities to work in a way that feels right for you.
Regular weekly sessions allow us to discuss and reflect on your experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and to process any impact they may be having.
My work is informed by counselling training, psychological learning and research, lived experience, and a commitment to professional and personal development.
Please book a free initial consultation, click on the link to my website, or read on for more information about sessions
Counselling sessions are as individual as you are
Sessions can help you to explore the issues that are important to you, and to reflect on factors that influence the way you think and feel. Whatever you bring to counselling, sessions can be structured in a way that suits you. We can:
- explore your life experiences and the contexts in which they occurred
- We can focus on the present and how your life is being impacted now
- We can look at the whole picture - the combined effect of all these aspects is unique and personal to you.
The important thing is that how much, or how little, you share is your decision, and when you share it is your choice.
How can I help you?
Counselling can open up new possibilities, boost confidence, resilience, and self-esteem, and improve mental health and physical wellbeing. With the right therapeutic relationship counselling has the capacity to be life-changing.
To help you achieve your counselling goals, I can offer you compassion, support, openness, and acceptance, and will collaborate with you in creating an environment that feels safe to explore your experiences at your own pace.
Some examples of how I can help
Managing stress / anxiety:
Often, when we are in situations of real or perceived danger, our brains and bodies try to protect us from the impact of stress by triggering automatic reactions. These may be effective in the short-term but, if they keep being triggered, over the long-term the system can forget to switch off - leaving us exhausted, physically uncomfortable, and feeling like we're on high-alert all the time. In sessions, exploring strategies that can help in the long-term, and exploring the root cause of what keeps triggering this automatic system, can help you regain control of anxious thoughts and help your brain and body recalibrate.
Managing the impact of mental distress / disconnection / trauma:
Many clients experiencing mental distress tell me that they feel disconnected in some way - sometimes from other people but often within themselves. Emotions like guilt, shame, fear and despair rarely respond to reason and logic, and this can leave us feeling as if we have lost control over our own thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Using talk-therapy I can help you to explore these reactions, find ways to manage difficult thoughts and feelings, and work towards reintegrating those parts that feel disconnected. My work is trauma-informed and you will be supported to work through the counselling process safely and at a pace that feels right for you.
Building confidence and improving self-esteem:
Sometimes in life we believe we're not 'good enough', and feel unable to live up to expectations - either our own, or other people's. When our inner voice keeps reinforcing this idea, it can become very limiting, and impact on our mental health and self esteem. We might have to work hard at hiding our feelings, at pleasing other people, or 'fitting in', and the person we present to the world can seem like a mask hiding our true inner self. This can be exhausting and confusing - making us wonder 'who is the real me?' In counselling sessions I can help you to explore and focus on the different parts that make up your identity, find out what motivates them, and help them to work together rather than in isolation. Understanding and feeling comfortable with who we are can improve our openness, our confidence, and can increase our self-esteem.
All sessions are online - I am a registered therapeutic counsellor. I have had additional training and experience in using Zoom for digital counselling sessions. The process itself is not really any different to in-person, and working online means I can offer you convenience and flexibility when booking appointments. Unrestricted by location, I can provide a welcoming, safe, and professional online space to anyone with internet access living anywhere in the UK.
Please visit my website for more information, resources, and booking information: https://azure-dragonfly-counselling.co.uk
Thank you for your interest.
Training, qualifications & experience
Counselling Qualifications:
- BA (Hons) inc. Biological Psychology & Child Development
- Level 4 - BACP accredited Diploma in Integrative Therapeutic Counselling (cpcab)
- Level 3 - Certificate in Counselling Studies (cpcab)
- Level 2 - Certificate in Counselling Skills (cpcab)
- Level I and Level II (CCTP 1 & 2) Complex Trauma Certification (PESI)
- Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling (NCPS)
- Counselling Online (BACP/OU)
Current qualification:
- MSc in Psychology and Mental Health Wellbeing
- Modules - Social Psychology; Human Development Through the Lifespan; Psychology of Everyday Life; Psychology of Learning; Personality, Ability and Difference; Clinical and Counselling Psychology; Mental Health Online; Research Methods and Statistics; Psychology of Social Interaction; Cyberpsychology
Continuous Professional Development Courses and Training:
Therapeutic approaches and counselling skills -
- CBT for Depression (APT)
- Developments in Person Centred Therapy (CT)
- Working with children in therapy (CT)
- Gestalt therapy (CT) & Working with Gestalt in the therapy room (DR)
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and online CBT (MSc)
- Queering therapy spaces and working with gender diverse clients (BACP)
- Attachment and shame (DR) & Attachment theory (CT)
- Narcissism Course Part 1 & Part 2 (Jenny Hartill)
- Counselling for chronic illness (CT)
- Chronic illness and bereavement as enduring traumas (Cordelia Galgut)
- Suicide in historically marginalised communities: Perception versus reality (PESI UK)
- Providing time limited counselling (CT); Solution-Focused Brief therapy; Single Session Therapy (Windy Dryden)
Trauma-informed therapy -
- Using trauma-informed grounding techniques (CT)
- Trauma and brain plasticity (CT)
- Exploring suicidal parts: Using Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to heal traumatic wounds (PESI UK)
- Establishing the foundations for effective trauma healing (Janina Fisher)
- Trauma Informed Stabilisation Therapy (TIST) - Janina Fisher, PhD
Conferences and workshops:
- A Day on Addiction 2023
- A Disorder for Everyone 2023
- Psychodynamic, Neuroscience and Person Centred counselling (Kate Williams) 2024
- Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (Kate Blakemore) 2024
- The Wonderful World of Parts (Kate Williams) 2024
I am an integrative counsellor with experience in Psychodynamic, Person-Centred, Psycho-Educational, Gestalt, Transpersonal and Cognitive Behavioural approaches to therapy. My work is trauma-informed and I often incorporate Parts-Work into sessions.
I began working with Wiltshire MIND as a placement student-counsellor and, since qualifying, have continued to work with them alongside my work in private practice.
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
£50.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Additional information
An optional initial 15 minute phone or Zoom consultation is free.
When I work
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My working hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm. Tuesdays and Wednesdays I offer online sessions in the daytime and evening, and Thursdays I work for Wiltshire MIND.
Further information
I spent over 25 years working in educational and social care settings, supporting vulnerable children, young people, and adults before moving into therapeutic counselling.
I have facilitated several awareness and support groups including positive parenting and domestic abuse courses. I have many years' experience working with adults, children, young people, and their families, supporting them to manage a wide variety of both practical and emotional issues.
I have experience working as a Wellbeing Support Advisor.
