Karen Balfour
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hi, my name is Karen and I'm a BACP registered member, qualified counsellor and supervisor predominantly practicing over the last fifteen years with young people.
I am self-employed and have developed a confidential person-centred counselling service for West Lothian Council, East Lothian Council and the City of Edinburgh Council for young people aged 15+. I have extensive experience working with ages from 11 years upwards both within statutory and non-statutory services. This counselling service increasingly receives referrals from clients with a neurodivergent diagnosis, with neurodiverse traits and/or awaiting local CAMHS services and support.
I also work privately with older individuals, student counsellors and supervisees.
I adhere to the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy which means I receive regular, monthly supervision sessions for both my client and supervisee work. My client's names are not used.
You can find out more on the Code of Ethics: BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice at (http://www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework).
Also, their Complaints Procedure: BACP Professional Conduct Procedure at (http://www.bacp.co.uk/prof_conduct/).
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a qualified counselling supervisor and have 13 years post qualifying experience as a counsellor. I am a registered member of the BACP and currently in the process of applying for the Accreditation Scheme for Individual Practitioners.
I am also a fully qualified Reiki Teacher and Bi-Aura Tutor which involves planning, preparing and delivering the relevant training materials and providing supervision for trainees on each course offered.
Member organisations
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.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society
This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.
In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Clients both diagnosed and undiagnosed who present with neurodiverse traits.
Therapies offered
Fees
£40.00 - £50.00
Further information
I am available weekdays and evenings with sessions offered face to face at my counselling room in Edinburgh or via Zoom calls online.
