About me
MAKING SPACE FOR WHAT COMES NEXT
You may know that something needs to change without knowing exactly what that change looks like.
Perhaps life has become tangled. You’re carrying something from the past, struggling with what’s happening now, or simply wondering how you got here and where you go next.
Therapy doesn’t have to begin with having the answers. We can start with where you are.
I won’t try to fit you into a particular type of therapy or tell you how you should feel. I work pluralistically, which simply means we have different ways of working available to us. Together, we can discover what is most useful for you.
Sometimes that might mean talking and being properly heard. At other times, we might explore patterns, relationships or experiences from your past, develop practical ways of dealing with something happening now, or look at the choices and possibilities ahead.
And sometimes we may simply need to make enough space to understand what is going on.
Therapy is shaped around you
I believe the relationship between us matters as much as the techniques we use. I want you to be able to tell me when something is helping — and equally when it isn’t.
You won’t be judged, rushed or expected to have everything figured out.
We’ll work at your pace, with curiosity, honesty and compassion, towards whatever “what comes next” means for you.
You don’t need to arrive knowing where you’re going.
We can begin by making space to find out.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Registered member of BACP
- MSc Pluralistic Counselling
- 8 years working with Shape Therapy
- 5 years holistic and complementary therapies
- Working within addictions third sector organisation
- Former teacher in Higher Education
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Problems in living. Who among us has not had problems. We don’t always need counselling to help us get back on track, but it can make the world of a difference.
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Additional information
15 minutes free first contact phone call.
Introductory session 60 mins £50
Follow up sessions 50 mins £50
Reduced rate for hardship situations £40
Further information
Who am I?
I’m Neil Brooks - a psychotherapist, husband, father and grandfather, and someone who came to this profession with quite a lot of life already lived.
My route into psychotherapy hasn’t been a straight one. Before becoming a therapist, I worked in business, management, the voluntary sector and community organisations. Those experiences brought me into contact with people from very different backgrounds and taught me something that has stayed with me: we rarely know the full story of what someone else is carrying.
My own life has included change, loss and starting again. Bereavement has touched my family personally and profoundly. I don’t believe that experiencing loss makes me an expert in somebody else’s grief - everyone’s experience is their own - but it does mean that when someone talks about a life being divided into before and after, I understand something of what that can mean.
Away from the therapy room, I’m a keen walker and love being in the Scottish hills - partly for the challenge, but increasingly for the space they provide. Walking has taught me that you don’t always need to see the summit, or even the whole route, before taking the next step. Sometimes you just need enough clarity to know where to put your foot next.
Perhaps that is one reason the idea behind Neil Brooks Psychotherapy feels so important to me.
- Making Space For What Comes Next
I don’t see therapy as somebody sitting opposite you with all the answers. I see it as two people working together to understand what’s happening, what matters to you, what might need to change - and sometimes what needs to be accepted.
I’ll bring my professional training, experience and different therapeutic approaches. You bring something equally important: you know what it is like to live your life.
Somewhere between those two things, we can begin.
You don’t need to arrive knowing where you’re going.
We can start from where you are.
