Counsellor Laura Bearman, Basingstoke

About me

People seek counselling and psychotherapy for a huge range of reasons. It could be that you are experiencing changes in your life resulting in feeling low, frustrated or confused. You may want to explore and change issues you have struggled with for a long time. Maybe you are having difficulty with certain relationships and do not know how to manage them. You might want to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and improve your confidence and self-esteem. Whatever you are going through, talking to someone not involved in your day-to-day life can help you to work though, accept or change aspects of your life and relieve your distress.

Having counselling can be a daunting prospect and difficult to know what to expect. I can offer you a listening ear alongside a safe, empathic and non-judgmental environment to positively support you with any emotional, personal and relationship difficulties you may be experiencing. Rather than imposing solutions, I will instead support you in taking steps to explore your individual difficulties at your own pace, which can provide you with a greater understanding of them and therefore help you discover the best solution that works for you.

It is important that you feel comfortable to work with me and so to help you with this I offer a free 25 minute initial session. During this time we will discuss what help and support you would like from counselling and any concerns or questions you have. This will give you the opportunity to decide if counselling is the right form of support and if I am the right person for you. Each individual session lasts for 50 minutes, usually on a weekly basis, and depending on what you feel is best for you I am able to work with you short-term over a period of a few weeks or on a longer term basis. We will work at the pace you feel comfortable and our work together will be reviewed regularly to make sure we are both on the same page and working towards your goals.

COVID 19 - unfortunately face to face sessions cannot be carried out safely at present and so I am offering online (via Zoom) or telephone counselling only. Once we can safely work together face to face and if you have already started online/telephone counselling, you will be given the option to move to face to face or continue with online/telephone counselling.

Training, qualifications & experience

I am a qualified and experienced counsellor and psychotherapist; I have completed a BSc (Hons) in Psychology (2009) and an MA in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy (2015). I have worked with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of distress.

As a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) I agree to adhere to the good counselling practice as described by the BACP ethical guidelines. This ensures I treat everyone with the same respect and that I deliver a safe and professional level of counselling, keeping your best interests at the core. Alongside this, I regularly attend supervision and engage in further professional training, to make sure I can help you in the best way possible.