Monica Barker
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
My Approach: I view therapy as a collaborative process - one where your voice, preferences and goals guide our work together. I adapt my approach to your needs, whether offering space to talk things through, practical tools to restore emotional balance, or deeper exploration of past experiences.
You can choose a short-term, solution-focused therapy to address immediate concerns, or you may opt for an in-depth, long-term therapy to understand and uncover deep-seated emotional distress and unhelpful responses to situations. Either way, you can expect a safe and compassionate environment where you are heard, understood, and validated regardless of your background, beliefs, or life choices.
And if at any point you feel that my approach is not the right fit, I will respectfully support you in finding another professional who might be.
I can provide support with the following (the list is not exhaustive):
Feeling generally overwhelmed, having intrusive thoughts, severe worry, lack of sleep;
Anxiety, stress, depression, burnout;
Struggling with low self-esteem/self-worth, or feeling disconnected from your true potential;
Dealing with relationship conflicts at work, at home, in social circles;
Facing challenges, or indecision in your career;
Going through a bereavement and the pain of loss (i.e. loss of income/financial security, home, partner);
Experiencing issues related to intimacy, sexuality, or emotional connection due to factors like illness, injury, a partner’s death, divorce, or infidelity;
Breaking free from limiting/self-defeating beliefs and behaviours, such as angry outbursts, comfort eating, self-criticism, self-sabotage, escapism, smoking, or sugar addiction;
Feeling that your life lacks direction or meaning.
My role is to help you navigate your difficulties with clarity and self-compassion, by involving approaches, such as:
Exploring Your Past: helping you understand how early life experiences shape your thoughts, behaviours, and relationships in the present, uncovering unconscious patterns, limiting beliefs, defence mechanisms, life scripts/narratives/underlying dynamics that hold you back.
Building New Skills: using role-play, mindfulness, visualisation, and other CBT tools to establish healthier behaviour patterns and responses to challenging situations.
Solution-Focused Strategies: helping you build confidence and momentum by focusing on solutions rather than problems; exploring your strengths, resources, and moments of success to help you move toward achievable goals.
Grief work: helping you to move through the stages of grief, finding meaning in the loss, processing the complex emotions and reduce the impact of the loss while honoring the memory of the deceased/of what you lost (job, home, security, marriage/partnership).
Sex-informed therapy: removing shame around discussing sexual struggles; understanding the connection between sexuality, emotional health and living authentically; how life events affect libido and addressing barriers to intimacy; learning conflict resolution and relaxation techniques; exploring ways to nurture emotional connection.
Hypnotherapy: if you are open to it, I can engage hypnosis techniques in relation to quitting smoking, managing your weight, changing negative self-image, reducing anxiety, overcoming a phobia, or improving your sleep.
Practical Tools & Psychoeducation: I may share insights about how the brain and body respond to stress, explain common emotional patterns, or offer tools and techniques that can support your healing; this knowledge can empower you to make sense of your experiences, feel less alone in them, and gain confidence.
When you are ready to take the first step toward emotional healing and significant change, I would be honoured to be your therapist.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am guided by the ethical frameworks of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and National Hypnotherapy Society (MHS), of which I am a member.
My qualifications:
Chrysalis Level 5 Professional Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling (Prince’s Trust)
Chrysalis Level 4 Diploma in Counselling Skills and Theory
Chrysalis Level 3 Certificate in Hypnotherapy and Counselling Skills
Integrative Sex Therapy Institute & Evergreen Certifications: Certified Sex Therapy Informed Professional
My training also includes:
- Grief models
- Attachment and object relations dysfunctions
- Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other personality dysfunction presentations
- Working with narcissism
- Transactional analysis
- Understanding trauma and the nervous system
- The Compassionate Inquiry method
- Clinical applications of internal family systems (IFS)
- Hypnoanalysis
- Imago couples therapy
- Reflective journaling
- Single Session Therapy
- Understanding psychodrama and working with parts.
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 National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations. In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Photos & videos
Fees
£35.00 - £50.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Counselling and psychotherapy:
Initial online or telephone consultation, free of charge; £10 for face-to-face. Subsequently, online or telephone session lasting between 50 to 60 minutes - £40; face-to-face session £50.
Reduced rates for students: Initial online or telephone consultation, free of charge; £10 for face-to-face. Subsequently, online or telephone session lasting between 50 to 60 minutes - £25; face to face session - £35.
Hypnotherapy charges:
Initial online or telephone consultation, free of charge; £10 for face-to-face. Subsequent sessions: £75 for 45-50 minutes; £120 for 2 hours session for quitting smoking. Reduced rates for students: £60 for 45-50 minutes; £100 for quitting smoking
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||||||
| Afternoon | |||||||
| Evening | |||||||
| Night |
Because I hire a therapy room from a counselling organisation, I am bound by their terms of room hire stipulating opening hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. , Monday to Friday.
