Mike Swift

It can be hard to reach out for help - I aim to support you from the beginning in ways that work for you. I offer open-ended counselling, which can include EMDR and Internal Family Systems. My goal will be to help you to make sense of what’s happening, to work with any difficult feelings and experiences you are having, and to find ways of moving forwards with a renewed sense of understanding and purpose.

We do this by building a trusting relationship in which you feel free to explore any and all aspects of your experience without judgement. I will work with you to increase your resources, self-esteem and trust in your own capacity. 

Typically, in order to understand what's happening, we will explore your past experience and how this has shaped the way you are now. Commonly, ways of coping that were once necessary keep on playing out in our present life, contributing to our issues. Therapy can be a place to find different, more fulfilling ways being.

Often we have experiences that are hard to put into words. With this goal, I work in a somatic way, paying attention with you to what your body might be communicating. We can use Internal Family Systems and Somatic Experiencing to explore the edges of awareness.

Invariably, human problems are relational on some level, involving the people in our present, or past life. We will be mindful of the relational context and social systems you live in and how this affects your experience. We will likely be looking at the origins of how you experience relationships, how others relate to you, how you relate to yourself - and the ways in which an increased knowledge of all this can be beneficially applied in your life.

Finally, and this is decidedly un-therapist-like of me to say, but I bring my sense of humour to the work. Sometimes having a good laugh about life is very much needed when everything feels heavy.

If this sounds good, drop me a line to arrange for a free, no-obligation conversation about working together.

First, you will want to know about me -

I have a passion for my own development as a therapist and have over seven years of training: an advanced level 6 counselling diploma from BCPC in Bath, couples therapy training with the School of Relational Couples Therapy, and recently I completed a second professional diploma in Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy at The Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (while I welcome prep/integration work, I do not offer psychedelic-assisted therapy in the UK). I am currently completing EMDR training.

My work is grounded in Person-Centred, Psychodynamic, Jungian, Groffian, Existential, Internal Family Systems and EMDR modalities, with a deep reverence for the inherent wisdom and healing capacity of the psyche. I am up to date with trauma research.

I am interested in transformational crisis through the lens of depth psychology, and warmly welcome working with people experiencing their unique 'dark night of the soul'. 

I am BACP registered, fully insured and my work is overseen by a qualified clinical supervisor. I am also a member of a small, long-term peer supervision group as an additional support to my work. I have my own personal therapy and see my own personal development work as a lifelong endeavour.

I work from my own private and confidential office in central Bristol BS15EH (or online with people based anywhere). 

The work we do is fully confidential, with the standard caveat that I may sometimes take our work to supervision to make sure that I am providing the best possible service for you.

I seek regular feedback from all clients to ensure that the work we are doing is helpful. I have not received any complaints, but do have a clear procedure in place should this ever arise, which I believe is important.

All of this gives you some guarantee that, if you choose to contact me, you are contacting a therapist who is well trained, passionate about the work, ethical and accountable.

Drop me a line to arrange for a free, no-obligation conversation about working together.

Information for couples counselling

I imagine if you're looking for couples counselling, the way that you are being with each other is not satisfying you. Perhaps the feelings you once had have changed. Perhaps this has built slowly over time, or a life transition or event has brought things to a head. Either way - something needs to change in the relationship. Perhaps you're at the stage where it's either - things have to improve - or you separate. Often, a build up of resentment and disappointment has slowly eroded the relationship. This needs to be understood, addressed and processed in order to move back into the healthy, growthful relationship you both want and deserve. Part of my task will be noticing and stopping what's happening between you and helping you to do things differently.

Commonly, the situation between a couple has reached crisis point by the time couples counselling is sought. If your desire to stay together is still strong, and you are willing to work at it, my goal as a couples therapist is to notice and to intervene in the patterns and shapes that you are co-creating, to assist you as a couple to re-establish communication and empathy where is has broken down. I will provide communication advice and exercises - to be done in sessions and at home - to help you re-connect.

When relationships get into difficulty, usually it can be traced back to our unconscious patterns and projections from the past and how these have become entangled with the other's in ways that activate our early wounding, I will help you to explore and begin to unpick these tangles and knots. This can be hard work, and will often require time and commitment to the process, especially when things feel hard. My commitment is to be reliable, fully present and in the process with you.

If you would both like to give it a go, we would meet for a full initial session in order to get a good sense of what it is like working together.

I offer regular weekly couples therapy, and a more flexible arrangement for those couples for whom it would be impossible to commit to a regular time. 

Get in touch to arrange a meeting. 

Individual counselling £65

Couples counselling £85 50 minutes / £150 90 minutes

Low-cost spaces when available £30 - £50

I also maintain a number of low-cost spaces for those who would not otherwise be able to access therapy. When I have one of these spaces available, I am open to discussing a fee with you based on your individual circumstances.