Karen MacKey

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BA(Hons) PGCE, FD, Dip Couples, Dip Th. Counsel, MBACP (Acc)
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Woking, Surrey, GU22
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Counselling helps you explore both your difficulties and strengths, whether as an individual or as a couple. You might be aware of particular issues which you want to look at, such as relationships or anger, anxiety and sadness or just the sense that things could do to be better. Talking matters, but so do practical tools and ideas to manage things better. 

Many problems are just too difficult to resolve on your own.  Family and friends try to help but sometimes their advice or judgement create their own pressures. When you are experiencing difficulties, speaking to someone objective and understanding helps. 

Counselling happens in a calm, friendly and relaxed environment, giving you the space to fully explore what is happening and get things going in a direction which works better for you.  We will reflect on what matters to you, where your priorities are, so in small or large steps you can begin to make meaningful, and possibly life-long, changes. For people with neuro-diversities such as ADHD or ASD, this affirmation of who you are and how you see things can be especially helpful.

My work is with adults: individuals and couples, wanting short to long term Counselling.  I am a qualified, Accredited Counsellor, experienced in working with depression, addictions, anxiety, sadness, loss, anger, abuse, self-esteem and relationship difficulties, confusion, family and societal issues.  As well as seeing individuals and couples privately, I counsel with RASASC, a charity in Guildford and have previously been a Counsellor and Assessor at Catalyst, a Guildford based drug, alcohol and well-being charity, and with YMCA in Guildford. 

From therapy, I believe you will gain understanding about who you are and why you might think, feel and behave as you do.  Your way of understanding is unique to you, and we work with this to help you manage emotions and relationships in a healthier way.  Knowing what is most important to you can make your choices and decisions simpler.

In Counselling we focus on what you bring to the session and what might be helpful to explore and understand this.  I use tools from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic, Transactional Analysis and Solution Focussed Therapy. 

It is vital that the Counselling relationship will work for you, that you feel comfortable talking to me and trust me.  My aim to provide a flexible Counselling service which adapts to your needs and as part of this I offer a free 15 -minute phone or Zoom call to help you decide whether to book a first appointment.  I also understand you may not wish to commit to regular weekly sessions or to more than one session at a time.  For individual clients, following an initial one-hour appointment, there is also the option of shorter 30-minute sessions over Zoom.

Individual Counselling

Your uniqueness as a person with your own individual understandings, underpin my Counselling.

Depending on the situation, Counselling could involve exploring situations or thoughts which are emotionally triggering and getting to the roots of what is happening.  Often patterns of thinking and behaving become established in ways which are unhelpful; we look for alternative responses which could work much better for you.

Where there are relationship problems, communication is often part of the issue and we would look at ways of changing this. (Please note: if you are looking to explore a relationship with your partner, I strongly recommend you come along as a couple.)

Couples Counselling

I offer Counselling to many kinds of partners: same sex, heterosexual, married or in a less formal partnership.

Relationship therapy also varies; my Couples Counselling is not about drama but about creating a calm and balanced space where each of you can talk and be heard by the other.  Your relationship will be the focus of Couples Counselling and at the heart of all the work we do together.  We will look at ways to strengthen and nurture it, whether you are having particular difficulties now, or are seeking ways to deepen your connection.  Work will include understanding what each of you brings to the relationship, where that has come from and how that plays out for each of you. 

I hope, like many couples, you will leave with more knowledge and understanding of your relationship which will enable you to protect and develop it. You will also know yourself and your partner better.

Couples Counselling can feel very different from having individual therapy partly as it is likely to feel structured and perhaps more directed.  There needs to be a willingness on both sides to engage in the process and commit to it, data protection legislation also requires permission for me to use your contact details.  For these reasons I need both partners to contact me independently. 

If you would like an introductory call, could you please request this at a time when you can both be present.  

And please ...

Contact me if you need more information or have questions.  You can get in touch with me by email at: wokingcounselling@protonmail.com or call or text me on 07495 267944.  .

My website address is:  www.wokingcounsellingsupport.co.uk

Training, qualifications & experience

Counselling Experience and Credentials:

2017 - Ongoing Private Couples Counsellor, Woking

2020 - Level 2 Member,  Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO) 

2017- 2019 Couples Counsellor at Catalyst, Guildford

2019 - Accredited Member, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) 

2016 - Ongoing Private Counsellor to Individual Clients, Woking

2016 - Member, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

2016 - 2018 Counsellor to young people and others at YMCA, Guildford

2015 - 2019 Counsellor to individual clients at Catalyst, Guildford

Qualifications

Currently Studying MSc in Psychology

Foundation Degree in Counselling, Open University 

Diploma in Transpersonal Couple Counselling and Psychotherapy, Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education (CCPE)

Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, Counselling and Psychotherapy Awarding Body (CPCAB), Farnborough College of Technology

Certificate Online Counselling Services and Training, Level 4, Audio and Webcam

NOCM Certified Level 3 Award Programme of Core Competencies (working with addictions) 

Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Kingston University

BA (Hons), Leeds University

Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

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
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

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.

ACTO
The Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO)

The Association for Counselling and Therapy Online

Accredited register membership

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

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.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with

I also work with people who want to take stock in their lives and to consider whether how they are living makes sense to them.

Photos & videos

Fees

£50.00 - £65.00

Concessions offered for

  • Low income

Additional information

Individual Counselling Sessions:

£50 for 50 min - 1 hr Individual Counselling session

Some concessions are available.

Couples:

£65 for 50 min - 1 hr Couples Counselling session .

Some concessions are available.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

Flexible after 9.30 am.

Further information

I am based on the outskirts of Woking, going in the Guildford direction.  There is easy parking just outside.

For individual clients, after an initial one hour appointment, I am now offering the option of 30 minute sessions over Zoom.

Woking, Surrey, GU22

Type of session

In person
Online

Types of client

Adults
Older adults
Couples

Key details

DBS check

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

Online platforms

Whatsapp
Zoom