Kathryn Donnithorne
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am currently offering face to face therapeutic contact out in nature, as walking, or sitting outside, sessions in Mid and East Devon (Cullompton/Honiton area) where appropriate. Please contact me if you think a walking session along the canal, on country lanes or amongst the trees, in woodland, might work for you and I'm happy to have your dog accompany us.
I am also now able to see clients in my newly completed wooden cabin, called Shedspace, situated on a peaceful corner of a farm just outside the village of Broadhembury. There are sofas and a log burning stove with beautiful views out over the fields. It is secluded and there is parking but no other amenities.
I am also using video messaging on WhatsApp and Skype, and I'm happy to move between various forms of communication to suit your preference.
I am also able to offer home visits within my area, for those with transport or mobility concerns. Please call me to see if I can visit you.
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Why choose counselling?
We can all experience difficulties and loss in our lives and counselling is seen as a way of helping to improve how we cope with these difficulties. My approach and manner is gentle and grounded and I draw on my own broad life experiences and love of nature, to create a safe and supportive place to help explore your thoughts, feelings and emotions.
My person-centred approach is about you deciding what to bring to counselling and how much to share. I can work with you for the short term or for longer if you decide that is what you need.
My personality
I am an optimistic, open and friendly person with a quiet and calm manner. I have travelled extensively and worked with many differing cultures which has given me a wide experience of some of the challenges we can all face and an insight into what makes us humans tick.
Personal therapy
I remember how nervous I was when walking through the door to my first session with my new counsellor in my training days. It required lots of courage and I realised how deciding to go for counselling is a really brave thing to do. I had two differing types of therapy in those early years, the benefits of which I still feel now. It became so much easier and enjoyable being me.
Modern life is really tough, with challenges coming at us from all angles, so to recognise and let go of some of the rigidity of my beliefs and ways of behaving, that weren't being helpful to me, has been invaluable. I often see, in my work, how improvements in ways of thinking can give your head some much needed space, and tools to declutter the mind.... hence my business name being Headspace.
What lead me into Counselling
Many years ago, I took my young son to a homeopath for his eczema. We visited them regularly and I began to see and feel the relationship that was developing between them. It was full of trust and understanding, and it felt like a safe place for my son to share his worries and feelings. His homeopath was also a qualified counsellor and their approach so impressed me that I started doing research into counselling and soon after, began training of my own.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have extensive experience working with those of us who may have been in situations where there is/was coercive control, emotional manipulation, feelings of guilt and/or self doubt and powerlessness, whether that be in the past or if it is happening currently. If you think this could be you, please get in contact with me and we can talk through your experiences, how to better manage your responses and reactions and ultimately how to heal from your challenges or trauma.
I hold a Diploma and Certificate in Counselling Theory, Skills and Practice and have been working full time as a counsellor for 12 years and regularly update my skills by attending Professional Development days with the BACP, Relate and other relevant professional individuals.
I have worked as a Counsellor for the NHS at the Mental Wellbeing and Access service in Exeter and for a charitable organisation in Exmouth for a number of years. I also completed my training with the Samaritans, although sadly my personal circumstances changed and I was unable to be with them for very long.
I am a member of The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy BACP, which means my work is regulated by professional guidelines, codes of conduct and the highest standards of practice and confidentiality. More information is available to all on their website www.bacp.co.uk.
I hold comprehensive professional Indemnity Insurance.
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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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Boarding School and its impact
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£50.00 per session
Additional information
My fees are £50 per hour.
Your first meeting with me would normally last for an hour. It gives you the opportunity to tell me what you would like to get out of counselling, for you to decide whether you feel you can work with me and for me to decide if I am the best person to help you.
There is also some paperwork which I ask you to complete for me, prior to or at our first session; where I ask you a few personal and health details.
After that we would aim to meet weekly with our sessions together being an hour long. Having said that I can work with flexibility around your needs.
Further information
Potential to change
Regardless of where we are from, I believe, with the right support, we all have the potential to make changes in our lives. I work with this in mind.
Whatever our parenting and role modelling was like when we were growing up, we have all probably been shown or told how to behave by someone else. As we become older these ways of being may no longer fit, and we can feel as if we are living a life that isn't meant for us. It may feel as if something is missing, or that your feelings are causing you distress or you may feel confused by your own and others' responses. Counselling is about looking at these ways of being, deciding if any of them are outdated or in need of change, where your potential actually lies and how to go about reaching it.
