Natalie Rigg
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
A warm welcome to my profile, my name is Natalie, and I'm a qualified person-centred counsellor.
Why counselling?
Easing the pain of loss and grief, depression or anxiety or trying to understand the imbalance in our lives is hard to do alone. Family and friends can be our ‘rocks’ and on our side, but leaning on loved ones for emotional support may not always be possible or the most beneficial. Counselling offers an opportunity to work with someone who is neutral, whom you can work with on an equal footing, and who will focus entirely on you during your sessions together, helping you to remove the obstacles blocking your path.
As a person-centred counsellor this is how I would work with you, I would not judge you or give you advice or solutions, instead I would be alongside you listening, accepting, understanding and encouraging, as you begin to make sense of the struggles you may have in your life.
I believe you are your best expert, and that through the counselling process you will ultimately find your own answers.
I believe that given the right environment people naturally develop in a positive direction.
Training, qualifications & experience
Experience
Before I trained to be a counsellor my life experiences included working as a solicitor in a variety of settings, raising 3 children with my Husband, and working in a voluntary capacity for a charity called the Cleft Lip and Palate Association. From 2015 to 2021 I worked for an eating disorders charity based in Bristol.
I qualified as a counsellor in July 2014 and have been seeing clients since 2013, for a sexual health and HIV charity in Bristol, and for Off the Record (Bristol), a mental health support and information service providing counselling and other services for young people aged 11 - 25.
My voluntary and paid work has had a focus on helping and counselling individuals living with long-term conditions, which include, HIV, eating disorders, living with chronic pain and/or disability.
Having worked for an eating disorders charity for a few years, I have a good understanding of how Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder and OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder) can develop, and why people get trapped in these sometimes hard to understand conditions. I recognise the links to psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and self-harm. I understand how dangerous eating disorders can be, not just because of the impact they have psychologically, but also the physical consequences an eating disorder can have on the body.
My work in eating disorders, and previous voluntary work has made me particularly aware of the immense pressure and stress that can be felt by those people caring for loved ones living with long term conditions. The work has given me insight, experience and a desire to continue helping, supporting and counselling people who are ‘carers’ in these circumstances.
My counselling experience so far also means I am sensitive to the cultural and ethnic origins of individuals and to people's religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
More generally I have experience of working with clients with a range of issues including anxiety, depression, loss and grief, difficulties in relationships, sexuality, shame and low self-esteem.
Qualifications and Professional Bodies
Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)
Foundation Degree in Counselling (Distinction)
Admitted as a Solicitor
BA (Hons) Law
Additional Qualifications
Diploma in Online and Distance Therapy (Awarded by the School of Applied Mental Health in November 2022)
Member organisations
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.
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
£50.00 per session
Free initial in-person or online session
Additional information
I work with adults providing individual counselling on a short and long-term basis.
The first 30-minute session is free. Subsequent sessions are charged at £50. All sessions are 60 minutes.
When I work
I currently have availability on Thursdays.
