Kate Booker

I am an experienced counsellor specialising in anxiety issues working in Reading. Originally trained and qualified in counselling to work with adults I also have over 9 years’ experience in counselling young people aged 11 and up. I work with young people in schools both public and private and I also work with a charity that offers counselling.

The most important part of what I do is listening and I strongly believe in the power and benefit of being actively listened to by someone in a safe, confidential and non – judgemental space.
I am a trained psychodynamic counsellor and this approach involves making a link between past events and relationships and those in the present to help form an insight into what might be making life difficult now and how to change that.

How Counselling can Help

We all develop patterns of behaviour over time that can sometimes begin to work against us, counselling can help to identify these patterns and go on to think about ways of changing them.
I strongly believe that you are the expert on yourself therefore I don’t give advice or tell you what to do, counselling is non – directive, you decide the direction you want to take and I am alongside you to listen and reflect with you on what is being spoken about. Counselling young people focuses slightly less on past events but I am guided by the young person on what they would like to talk about and help them identify patterns of behaviour that might no longer be working for them and how to move forward and change things. This can understandably be a very daunting prospect but by looking at this website you have already made the first step towards making some positive changes.

Being listened to can really go a long way to improving well being and clearing the clouds that can gather to be able to see more clearly. It is also extremely important that you feel safe with whoever you are sharing your world with, so it is very important to feel comfortable and ready to begin talking.

What to expect in your first session:

If you think that you would like to start the process of counselling, then the next step would be to arrange an appointment.

There will be an initial consultation that will last up to 60 minutes. This is when we can discuss what has brought you to counselling, how I may be able to help and how we would work together. At this session we will decide on future sessions and when these would be.

If you are bringing a young person to see me, we will all meet together for a short while first.
Most of my work is on an open ended basis which means that we continue to meet until coming to a decision that it is time to end. You may feel that you would like to begin with 6 sessions and decide whether to continue after a few weeks.

Where do I practice?

My practice is conveniently located in Tilehurst Village near to Jct 12 of the M4 with free parking. It is accessible from the No 15, 16 and 33 Bus Routes.