Nicole Darby
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello, thank you for visiting my profile. Life can feel challenging when you're struggling. You may be doing your best to navigate your way through a difficult time, or you may be struggling with past experiences, feeling low or maybe you just feel stuck, lost, or confused.
It can be difficult choosing the right therapist, it takes a lot of courage to reach out. I can provide a space to explore your difficulties to enable you to move forward in your life. Talking through your thoughts and emotions can be extremely empowering and can give you the strength to find yourself and your voice.
I offer both short-term counselling and long-term psychotherapy on a weekly basis. I offer face to face appointments in DY10 and also DY8 as well as online appointments.
I have experience working with a broad range of issues, life experiences, and mental health needs. For instance, anxiety and panic, depression, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, obsessions and compulsions, difficult or traumatic early life experiences, trauma, grief, loss, stress and burnout, work issues, bulling, abuse, relationship difficulties, health issues, sexuality or identity issues, experiences of oppression. I have worked with people from all walks of life and value difference and diversity.
My approach
As a qualified UKCP accredited psychotherapist, I can offer you time and a confidential space to talk things through with a trusted professional. I can help you to explore, understand and work through any difficulties, enabling you to gain awareness, find a new perspective, and help you to feel better equipped to deal with life's challenges.
Through therapy, we can build a therapeutic relationship to explore your thoughts, feelings and emotions, whatever you're struggling with. Providing space to focus on your unique personal history and how this may be impacting you today, this will allow for growing awareness enabling better ways of coping, personal growth and healthy change to take place. I offer a confidential, supportive and non-judgemental environment, creating safety and pace that suits your needs and allows time to reflect on what brought you to therapy.
My therapeutic approach is integrative, this means I can draw upon a range of therapeutic methods tailored to suit your individual need. My main theoretical approaches are: Gestalt therapy, psychodynamic (including attachment theory), cognitive-behavioural therapy, and a compassion focused approach.
My approach is trauma-informed, I believe mental distress is the result of what has happened to us, rather than something being wrong with us, and so I believe we have the resources within us to lead satisfying lives. However, sometimes we can become stuck in fixed ways of being, which may have served us well in the past but may no longer be working for us now.
Psychology and Health Psychology
I also have a psychology degree and health psychology postgraduate certificate, which I can draw upon to support individuals that may be looking to understand in more detail the connection between their mental and emotional health and their physical wellbeing.
Training, qualifications & experience
To qualify as a psychotherapist I completed 4 years of in-depth training, which included 450+ hours of supervised clinical practice & 160+ hours of personal therapy. I have an MSc in Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy and an Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapy Studies from Birmingham Newman university. I also have a BSc Psychology (Hons) degree and PGCert Heath Psychology qualification. I bring all my knowledge and experience to my work, and have a commitment to continued learning and training, through continuing professional development.
Aside from seeing clients in private practice, my experience includes working at a University as a Wellbeing Officer, this includes supporting students with their mental health, their transition to university, exam related stress and techniques to help with time management and procrastination. I have also worked in community counselling services, working for charity organisations, and bereavement services.
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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Please note - concessions are available but limited, please ask about availability.
I am also able to work with clients through Aviva, AXA, Cigna and Health Assured.
The assessment session
An assessment session will offer the chance to talk about the issues you will bring to counselling, your expectations and goals, and any questions you might have. We can explore the counselling agreement, which includes information about confidentiality and details of my ethical code. At the end of the assessment session we can decide together whether to make a regular counselling appointment.
When I work
I also offer online sessions for clients unable to attend in person, this provides flexibility and removes any barriers caused by work/caring responsibilities or location.
Further information
I have full Public Liability insurance and an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS).
I am also a registered member of the ICO and GDPR compliant.
