Jessica Hilliard
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello, I'm Jessica, thanks for your curiosity in reading my profile. I imagine you are finding things difficult right now, and perhaps, have been for a while. I feel your struggle, alongside a knowing and courage in reaching out at this time.
A fully qualified counsellor, practising in person in the Newhaven, Seaford and Lewes areas, I also work online with clients further afield. Whatever you may be experiencing as a result of current day difficulties or past traumas, please know that change is possible.
How I work
I work with a relational focus to build therapeutic rapport and trust, through a client centred and collaborative approach to treatment. My intention is always to meet you where you’re at, through holding a space of compassion, empathy and, where appropriate, challenge. Together, we can work in navigating your path to discover greater equilibrium in life.
My aim is to assist you in your truest homecoming, to know more of you ~ this innate wholeness. Through healing, we can grow into more of who we are, shedding our old skin(s) or confines (often in the form of maladaptive behaviours and limiting beliefs) and this transformation lies ready, waiting for you to claim it. On a journey of becoming, we can face aspects of our nature that are both confronting and illuminating. Therapy takes commitment and courage and my role is to serve as a guide for your own self knowing, through my learning and recognition of you as a unique being in the world.
How counselling can help
As an individual, your essence is and, always was, unique. You were born to shine and express this! However, as we know, life can be challenging, our path far from linear; it may currently feel like no path exists or hasn’t for some time.
Mental health wait lists are at record levels, pressures exist at every turn. Anxiety is the most searched for word on this directory, though perhaps, this is a sign of something more. We are living in an accelerated age, where our collective challenge must surely be to remember and restore our connection to ourselves, each other and the Earth. Many people are currently feeling the turbulence within and without; however, there appears to be a growing call towards healing.
Psychosynthesis, the branch of Transpersonal psychology and approach I am trained in, sees the individual in a context larger than their personality and current situation. I am trauma informed and work from a somatic and embodiment perspective, in respect of the mind body and spirit connection.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a fully qualified counsellor holding a Postgraduate diploma from The Psychosynthesis Trust London, which is accredited by the BACP.
Psychosynthesis
Psychosynthesis, a transpersonal psychology, has its roots in Psychoanalysis and my training involved learning from different clinical approaches such as Gestalt Therapy, Neuroscience and Existential Therapy. As such, I work on an integrative basis, drawing from a range of other complementary disciplines, tools and experiential techniques where appropriate including mindfulness, CBT, working with guided imagery, sand tray and meditation. Working within a transpersonal framework, I welcome exploration of who and what you may be in the world. At its heart, Psychosynthesis hypothesises a model of emerging purpose.
About myself:
Having a background in Performing Arts and media, I chose another direction in 2017 and embarked on studying for a diploma in Psychosynthesis. Whilst a trainee counsellor, I worked within a trauma informed women’s counselling service in Brighton. Upon qualifying, I began further training to specialise in Complex Trauma from a somatic trauma perspective and have a particular interest in boarding school syndrome. I am an accredited facilitator of a holistic movement/dance practice rooted in Jungian psychology and believe the psyche is embodied, that our embodied experience is pivotal to our wellbeing. Nature’s wisdom underpins my approach which is fundamentally collaborative.
Remaining committed to my ongoing professional development, I also attend to my own therapy and undertake regular, mandatory supervision for my clinical work. I work on a self employed basis in private practice and as a counsellor for Wellbeing in the Arts.
- 2017 Level 2 & 3 Helping / Counselling Skills, Brighton MET
- 2017 Certificate in the therapeutic movement modality of Chakradance
- 2020 P.G. Dip (3 year postgraduate diploma) in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy & Counselling (University of Middlesex accredited)
- 2022 Certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy, Embody Lab
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Boarding School Syndrome.
Therapies offered
Fees
£55.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My offering represents value for money and we will always discuss affordability as part of our contracting. My initial telephone or online session is always free, for us to get a sense of the other and see how we may work together. When you come to me for sessions, you will have free parking (on street) and access to a peaceful, rural location.
When I work
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Flexibility exists including weekends, please do enquire. My working hours are 08:00-20:00.
Further information
I currently have a few slots available from my home practice in the South Downs, outside Lewes.
