Karen Toms
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
My focus is on supporting clients who have anxiety, low self-esteem, low self-confidence and/or difficulties with perfectionism. These issues may be creating challenges in areas of your life such as family dynamics, your career and your eating habits. Perhaps this has been going on for several years and you are feeling stuck in a recurring cycle or at a crossroads, believing you may never be able to feel good about yourself or fulfil your potential.
As a Master Practitioner in Eating Disorders and Obesity, I also work with bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, obesity and other issues relating to food, emotional eating and body image.
Counselling with me will be a safe place for you to explore how you are feeling right now, gain clarity about what has brought you to this point and decide what you’d like to do differently moving forwards. Everything is welcome in our sessions, and we will balance the difficult conversations with lighter moments.
I will support you to create the mindset and conditions that will make you flourish. Lasting results usually come from making holistic changes. This means we will explore different aspects of your life, not just focus on how you think and feel. This could include small initiatives that help rebuild your self-esteem and confidence, techniques to reduce the impact of your inner critic so you speak more kindly to yourself, and acts of self-care which make you feel good and strong in your mind and body and positively impact your ability to achieve your goals.
It takes courage to begin counselling, so please feel free to get touch if you have any questions or would like to arrange for an initial no-obligation chat about your needs and how I can support you. You can call or text on 07341 162825 or email me via hello@karentoms.com. I have included some client testimonials in the ‘Further Information’ section below so you can get a feel for what it’s like to work with me.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
- Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling
- MSc Psychology
Training
- Master Practitioner Eating Disorders & Obesity
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
- Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Autism
- Level 3 Award in Education & Training
Professional Memberships
- Registered Member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy
- Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society
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 session
Additional information
We could work together on either a short term fixed number of sessions or a longer open ended basis depending on your needs.
We can schedule our appointments on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
Payment can be made by bank transfer.
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||||||
| Afternoon | |||||||
| Evening | |||||||
| Night |
Early morning and evening appointments are possible if required. My availability can vary depending on my caseload so please get in touch and we can discuss how we can work together.
Further information
Client Testimonials
"I have been working with Karen for over a year now, and I have found it tremendously productive and helpful. When we began working together, I was depressed and fearful about life. With Karen's help, I am now joyful and excited about the future." Online client
"With Karen I feel safe and supported to reveal all sorts of aspects of myself and to explore uncomfortable and difficult topics. She has helped me to realise and understand many things that are going on for me, and to find ways to work with them. I also find working with Karen great fun – she brings humour and intelligence to our sessions and I always look forward to speaking with her." Online client
"Karen is empathetic, compassionate and professional. Through her calm and patient approach, she has helped me gain the confidence to explore difficult issues." Telephone client
"I want to say a huge thank you for letting me express everything in a really calm, safe and wise environment. Thank you so much. You have helped me enormously and are a large part of the process of getting me to where I am today. Thank you." Online client
"With a calm, gentle clarity, Karen was able to help me to question and diminish unhelpful behaviours whilst focusing on increasing my self-belief." Face-to-face client
Regular Reviews
For however long we work together, we will make sure we check-in on a regular basis with your goals, usually every six sessions.
This allows us to review our progress, check that the goal(s) is still correct or whether it needs updating and discuss how we are working together and if there is anything you would like to change.
