Jo Allen
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This professional is currently not accepting new clients and may not respond to general enquiries at this time.
This professional is currently not accepting new clients and may not respond to general enquiries at this time.
About me
Hi, my name is Jo (she/her). I am a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist and accredited member of the BACP. I have been practising since 2015 and set up my private practise in 2017. Before I became a therapist, I worked in childcare and Early Years settings for 10 years which gave me an understanding of the importance of early attachments, childhood experiences, and human development. Becoming a therapist has now enabled me to understand how this can shape the adults we become.
What I offer
I work in private practise in Spondon, offering safe and professional support to individuals over 18 years of age. I offer short-term counselling and long-term psychotherapy depending on your needs. I work weekdays 10am-6pm, please get in touch to discuss the availability of sessions. Please note that I will reply to all enquiries within 48 working hours.
Please see below for the issues that I can help with. Although I work with a variety of common issues such as anxiety and depression, stress, and relationship problems, I hold a special interest in working with clients who have chronic illnesses such as CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia, arthritis, and chronic pain. I also explore Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), processing traumatic memories, and exploring how they impact our physical and emotional wellbeing as adults. I am currently studying how to support neurodivergent people in a therapeutic way and welcome enquiries from those who may be neurodivergent (Autistic, etc). Please note that I am unable to give any kind of diagnosis.
I work with various Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) to provide short-term counselling to employees who may need support with their mental health.
I also see clients with private health insurance through Bupa.
I am seeing clients in person, with Covid risk assessment in place, but will also continue to offer counselling via Zoom. Please get in touch for more information.
I also have experience of working with trainee therapists and have been approved by several local training providers. I have availability for trainee therapists.
Training, qualifications & experience
My Qualifications
I trained at the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute (SPTI) in Nottingham from 2014-2017, and gained a BSc (Hons) degree in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy. I gained my BACP accreditation in 2019.
I am also a qualified Clinical Supervisor, gaining a Diploma in Clinical Supervision from SPTI in May 2023.
I hold an enhanced DBS, and professional indemnity insurance. I adhere to the BACP and SPTI code of ethics, and attend fortnightly clinical supervision to ensure this. I am registered with the ICO in line with GDPR requirements. I engage in regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Other training:
- Introduction to Counselling Skills (2013)
- Level 2 in Counselling Skills (2014)
- NCFE level 2 in Mental Health Awareness (2015)
- Trauma and the Body: Somatisation and Dissociation (2016)
- The Embodied Relationship with Dr David Tune (2016)
- Making Trauma Therapy Safer with Babette Rothschild. (2017)
- Introduction to Compassion Focused Therapy (2017)
- Training on self-harm, identity and self-esteem (BACP, 2017)
- Inner child work (2018)
- introduction to Mindfulness (2018)
- Working with Grief and Loss (multiple courses)
- Autism and ASC awareness (2019)
- Working with Shame (2019)
- Mental Health and the Body: Treating Trauma (2019)
- Dealing with distress: Working with suicide and self-harm (2020)
- A study in Trauma and Somatic memory - Janina Fisher (2020)
- Covid-19 Awareness training. (2020)
- The Inflammatory Response: Understanding inflammation and the immune system in states of mind (2020)
- Chronic Pain and Disrupted Early Attachments (2021)
- Compassion Focused Therapy for Pain Management (2021)
- Diploma in Clinical Supervision: SPTI (2022-23)
- Building confidence with supervisees to work with multi-lingual clients across cultures - Beverley Costa (2022)
- Understanding Autism, ASC and ADHD (2023)
- Pre-Trial therapy guidance (2023)
- Teaching clients distress tolerance techniques (2024)
My Experience
I have experience of working in private practise and volunteering for a charity offering low-cost counselling in the inner city. Here, I saw clients presenting with a wide range of issues including anxiety, depression, trauma including complex PTSD, and more. I also volunteered and then worked at another counselling service in the city centre.
I have a special interest in illnesses such as CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia, arthritis and chronic pain, and the link between physical and mental health. I explore with clients the impact of receiving a diagnosis, the grief of life before an illness and look at how to adjust to a new way of life post-diagnosis.
I am currently undertaking training on autism and neurodiversity to promote a more neuro-affirmative way of working. Please get in touch to discuss your needs.
I have experience of working with various Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providers, offering short-term therapy to employees of different companies with personal problems and/or work-related problems that may impact their job performance, health, and mental and emotional well-being. I provide this by telephone, online, and in person.
As part of my training, I also attended intensive weekly personal therapy for over 5 years. I feel this gives me an understanding of what it is like to be a client, and of what a challenging but rewarding journey therapy can be.
Member organisations
school 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.
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
- Physical symptoms that have no medical explanation and invisible illnesses.
- Childhood issues and Inner Child work
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
- Fibromyalgia and other chronic health issues, including pain
- Guilt and shame
- PTSD, including flashbacks and nightmares.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£55.00 per session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Where to start
After your enquiry, I will email you a referral form, asking questions about what has brought you to therapy. We can then arrange a FREE short phone call of up to 15 minutes to assess what you may be bringing to therapy, and whether therapy with me is the right option for you. Following this, we would arrange an initial consultation that is at a mutually convenient time. If we feel happy to work together, we will then arrange a regular weekly appointment.
I am able to offer face to face therapy, as well as sessions via Zoom.
Fees
Initial consultations are £55 and take an hour. All subsequent sessions are also 60 minutes long and are charged at £55. I require 48 hours' notice for cancellations, and I reserve the right to charge for missed appointments. I accept payment in cash or via BACS (paid in advance of session). Fees are reviewed annually - they will remain at £55 for 2024.
If you have any queries about counselling in general or require further information about my practise, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Private Health Insurance
I am a Bupa-registered therapist and can offer counselling and psychotherapy via your Bupa insurance. Please email me to discuss your needs.
Getting here
My practise has free off and on road parking and is on bus routes from Derby and Nottingham. I have good transport links for M1, A52, and A50.
When I work
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I am unavailable:
26-28th August.
w/c 14th October.
Further information
About therapy
I believe that change is often what motivates us to access therapy. You may want to change your quality of life, or one aspect of it, which could mean addressing your thoughts, feelings and behaviours; or have had change thrust upon you and are struggling to adapt to your new situation, (e.g. a bereavement or relationship breakdown). We tend to form patterns of behaviour during our lifetimes that can be useful initially, but may no longer serve us as time goes on. Identifying and understanding those patterns helps us to change them.
Change takes place in a safe and supportive space, and I ensure that I provide this in order for the trust and therapeutic relationship to grow. We will work at a pace that feels right for you. We will review our work together regularly to ensure that we are working in the most effective way possible. There is no time-limit on how long you can attend therapy, so we will continue working together for as long as you need. Typically, clients attend for short-term therapy (up to 12 weeks), medium-term therapy (between 3-24 months), or long-term therapy (24+ months).
Sometimes, people come to therapy not quite knowing what has brought them, but perhaps feeling that they would like someone to talk things through with. This may require us to explore past and present experiences to build a picture of what might be going on.
My area of interest is working with the impact of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME), Fibromyalgia, arthritis, and other chronic illnesses. Whilst there is no cure for such conditions, I work holistically with the physical and emotional impact of these conditions and aid clients to adjust to life after being diagnosed.
I also hold an emerging interest in working with neurodivergent people (Autistic etc) whether you have an official diagnosis, self-diagnose, or recognise that you have traits that you would like to explore. Please note that I cannot give you a diagnosis.
How I work
As I work in an integrative way, this allows me to tailor the therapy to suit each person that I work with. I take into account different learning styles, and different approaches to ensure that you get the best experience you can out of your therapy. I use different theories depending on what you might need.
I focus on all aspects of a person - thoughts, emotions, physical symptoms, memories, behaviours, dreams and fantasies to name a few. This gives a holistic view of the person rather than focusing on just one aspect.
I find metaphors and images a powerful way to access thoughts, emotions and memories, which build the foundations for being able to attribute language to our experiences. We may also use resources such as stones, pens/paints and paper to visualise different aspects.
Further information
Please visit my website for further information. I also have a video of my practise room on my Facebook and Twitter pages (see Contact details).
Testimonials (shared with kind permission)
"Jo made me feel at ease and I quickly felt able to share my anxieties, personal and work-related stress with her. With her support I've been able to work through some complex issues and start to build a new life. I feel optimistic about the future now and have learned strategies to support myself when challenges arise. I cannot recommend Jo highly enough, she helped me find myself again and although I hope to not need her again, I will miss talking with her very much. Thank you".
"I felt comfortable as soon as Jo opened the door and I saw her smile. I only wanted a limited number of sessions and knew what I wanted to work on. Jo was able to do this and brought new insight into how my childhood impacted how I feel as an adult".
"Jo was a very good listener and I felt she was really easy to talk to. Counselling helped me to release the build-up of frustration by speaking openly".
"Jo has been nothing short of outstanding in all my time working with her. I can honestly say she is one of the main reasons I feel like the person I am today & the person I want to be. Thank you."
"Very lovely environment, calm and relaxing. Jo never made me feel rushed or insignificant. I believe I've thoroughly benefited from counselling - Thank you very much!"
"Excellent facilitation of my personal journey using creative techniques to help me understand myself better and develop. Thanks for helping me regain my sparkle :)".
"I have enjoyed my counselling very much. By talking things through, I think I have moved on from where I was when I first started. You have given me strategies to move forward with my life. Your counselling has been instrumental in helping me move on with my life. I would not be here without your support"
