Mike Sands
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Life can be difficult. Perhaps it is difficult for you right now.
You may be struggling to understand or control strong or troubling emotions. Perhaps you feel 'stuck' in entrenched ways of being, feeling and relating. You may simply feel the need to explore your inner world and gain an understanding of why you are the way you are.
I provide a safe therapeutic space in which the problems and mysteries of being human can be explored respectfully and creatively. My aim is to bring insight and understanding to the emotional and other personal challenges in your life, facilitating growth and change. My approach is collaborative but you would remain in control, determining the pace of therapy, the material you bring, when and how we address deeply painful or traumatic issues.
Training, qualifications & experience
I trained and qualified as an Integrative counsellor at The Minster Centre, the first Integrative Training centre in the UK and the leading Integrative Psychotherapy training body in Europe. I have worked for a major provider of counselling services in South London and a bereavement charity in West London. I have experience of working with a range of problems including anxiety, depression, addiction (including 12-step work), bereavement, eating disorders, problems with intimacy and low self-esteem. Before becoming a therapist I had senior leadership roles in a multi-national corporation and so have a good understanding of work-related stress and anxiety.
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
Fees
£55.00 - £60.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My standard fee is currently £60 per 50 minute session. I also offer a reduced rate of £55 if you pay for four sessions in advance:
When I work
Weekdays apart from wednesdays
Further information
Under current coronavirus restrictions I conduct therapy sessions by 'zoom' but in more normal times am available for face-to-face working in Oxford, East London and Avignon, France.
