Martin Head
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome to my profile. I'm a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor with almost 10 years of experience working with men and women on a wide variety of issues including anxiety, depression, addictions, bereavement and loss, abuse and trauma, low self-esteem and relationship problems.
As a BACP Registered Counsellor and UKCP Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, it’s not just effective training and considerable experience that you will benefit from when working together with me on the issues you want to address.
You’ll enjoy the fruits of a strong and safe container that will allow you access to unconscious forces that are holding you back. The feedback I get from people I work with is there is a space where you will be warmly encouraged to go more deeply into your own experience than you may ever have before. improvements in your life will generally follow quite swiftly.
Why choose Counselling?
Our reasons for entering counselling are often related to the difficulties we face as we move through life such as bereavement or loss of meaning during mid-life. Long standing issues such as anxiety, depression and addictive behaviours may also be the motivation for seeking help.
Counselling can give you an opportunity to explore the patterns of your life, reconnecting you with aspects of yourself that you had been unaware of. It is like bringing a compassionate spotlight on to the person we have become.
Many of us would aspire to live our lives as fully as we can, some of us try to find what this means by taking a closer look at ourselves with a trusted guide.
What can I help with?
It may be separation or loss that has brought us to this point. Perhaps you are suffering from depression, anxiety or Relationship issues. It could be more a vague sense of dissatisfaction and a desire for a greater sense of meaning that is the source of your discomfort. Whatever the issue, Counselling with a skilled Therapist can guide you through periods of difficulty and change towards a deeper understanding of yourself.
Transpersonal Therapy
Many people these days are interested in finding deeper meaning through meditative approaches and spirituality but how does this connect with personal therapy? My own journey through life has led to reflection on the apparent contradiction Between the transcendent part of us that hopes spirituality will bring an end to suffering and the more human part that Needs to learn to care for ourselves as we negotiate life’s painful pathways. One helpful perspective can be to see a distinction between existential and developmental wounding and how these two can become conflated leaving us feeling overwhelmed. It might be helpful to know some of your wounding can be addressed and moved on from whereas with more existential issues learning to accept and deeply love yourself becomes even more important. A soulful transpersonal therapist like myself can help with the needs of both the spirit and the soul.
Finding meaning in midlife
I see adults of all ages facing a variety of challenges but it’s not unusual for people who come to see me to be in the middle period of their lives and experiencing some sort of crisis of meaning. Perhaps you are established in life to a degree but there is less momentum to drive you forward and maybe a feeling of what now? Midlife is a time when things that previously had strong meaning have less importance and you are forced to find new ways to see yourself. Whilst unsettling, if you can turn towards your experience rather than distracting yourself you might find fresh layers of meaning and ultimately a recovery of a deeper and more authentic self
Self acceptance and the soul
My style is soulful which means seeing painful experiences, difficulties and suffering not just as things to overcome but also as significant in forming character, wisdom and self acceptance. It’s paradoxical but in order to really change we need to fully accept ourselves as we are.
How do I work?
Sometimes patterns of behaviour have been with us since childhood so it takes courage to reach out and be deeply heard, allowing wounds to heal and new perspectives to emerge.
You may think of counselling as a way of finding some support through life’s difficulties and that is certainly valid. But what if the therapeutic journey also allowed life to reveal itself to you in exciting, satisfying, challenging and sometimes scary ways? One could perhaps re-imagine it as a mythical struggle born of the desire to be free from pain but ultimately pointing to a deeper understanding of what it is to be alive.
Therapy is a relationship, I believe that the therapeutic relationship itself is responsible for much of the healing that takes place, the deeper the sense of trust the greater the chance of change. For me it is a privilege to witness someone like you as you start to trust that you can allow who you fully are to emerge and having someone to accompany you on that journey makes all the difference. At its best the Therapy is a kind of alchemical container that gently allows transformation to occur.
I work with adults of all ages and backgrounds and value and respect difference and diversity. I am a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists and I abide by their ethical framework.
What happens next?
We will step right in to what’s troubling you and after a full hour’s immersion you’ll come away with a feeling of having been strongly met and a sense of a path going forward. If you would like to take that next step and meet me then get in touch, naturally there’s no obligation to take things further if it’s not for you. The session will last a full hour and costs £60
Please either call or text me on 07896 123473 or click here to send me an email.
Training, qualifications & experience
I underwent a three year training in London at the Re-vision centre for Integrative Psychosynthesis and hold a diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis Counselling which is accredited by the BACP.
I worked for two years as a Counsellor for a low cost charity in London.
I undertake regular training as part of my commitment to professional and personal development.
I have 30 years of experience as a mindfulness and body work practitioner.
I have a degree in Public Administration and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education.
Member organisations
school 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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Fees
£60.00 per session
Additional information
Exeter - £60
Sessions last an hour
When I work
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Monday - Wednesday in Exeter.
Day and evening slots are available