Olivia Oven
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
Hello, I'm Olivia, a professional Therapist working with Couples and individuals.
I specialise in helping people recover from anxiety, stress, depression, low self-esteem and the pain of a wounded past. Relationships are a special area of interest as our relationships - with ourselves and others - form such a large part of our life and dictates so much about how we feel about ourselves, they deserve special attention.
How do problematic relationships affect us? You might be struggling with the demands of life because you are not at ease within yourself or in your relationships with others. A difficult background, low self-worth or challenging personal circumstances may be contributing to feelings of sadness, stress and anxiety. This might be accompanied by a sense of unhappiness, despair or worry that has become unmanageable.
You might know things are not right because:
* You are anxious and preoccupied with your thoughts.
* Your moods and energy levels are low.
* You have a sense of emptiness or feel a deep loneliness.
* Life feels stressful, demanding or unsatisfying.
* Your relationships are a of source of pain and disappointment.
* Your self-esteem is low.
*You are managing your feelings and struggles in unhealthy ways.
* You feel without hope or motivation.
You are not alone if you do feel this way and there are many reasons why life might feel difficult right now: your current circumstances, fears around global events, past trauma, a difficult or damaging childhood, hurtful relationships or daily life struggles can really take their toll. Sometimes we don't know why we feel the way we do, we just know it hurts.
Please know that with the right support, you can feel better about yourself, have renewed energy, a brighter outlook and more balance in your life. I'm here to help you find clarity and direction and heal past wounds.
My deepest hope is to help people overcome adversity and build a life worth living. Good therapy means having your problems, no matter how big or how small, met with compassion and respect. We don’t need to be at crisis point to take action, our well-being and emotional and mental health needs to be tended to like every other aspect of ourselves. Nurtured, invested in and celebrated.
Counselling and psychotherapy can support you to get the most out of life by helping with emotional regulation, stress management, mood and motivation and relief from anxiety and tension. Just coming to know and understand yourself can be life-changing.
Therapy can be challenging - and I appreciate the courage it takes to reach out - but the uniqueness of the therapeutic relationship, one of mutual trust and respect, is also a place where you can dare to be you. A place where you can share your deepest thoughts and fears as well as your hopes and dreams. Therapy can also provide a toolbox for change and growth and a chance to get back in control feeling renewed and hopeful again.
I am a Professional Fully Qualified Counsellor and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, with a broad range of experience working with a local Counselling Charity alongside my Private Practice.
I work with:
- Anxiety, stress, nervousness, fear, panic attacks and OCD.
- Anger-management, be that through trauma, abuse or an unknown troubling reaction in times of stress.
- Ageing and menopause
- Couples and Individuals
- Grief and loss: of loved ones, friends, a career, your health, or a life you feel you no longer have.
- Depression, low mood, feeling without hope or motivation.
- Divorce, problem relationships, family tensions, isolation and loneliness.
- Low self-esteem, self-worth or a loss of identity.
- Problematic coping mechanism such as excessive drinking and over-eating.
- Trauma, abuse and domestic violence.
If you have any questions, do get in touch for a free consultation.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a Registered Member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and abide by their code of ethics and ongoing training requirements.
I hold a Level 4 Diploma in Integrative Therapeutic Counselling as well as certificates, levels 2 & 3, Counselling Skills and Studies.
Certificates:
Solution-focussed Single Session Therapy
Brief Intensive Therapy
Couples Therapy
Relationship Counselling
Working with relational Trauma.
ADHD in Adulthood.
Anxiety and OCD
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy- Certificate of Proficiency.
Working with complex grief.
Online Therapy.
Counselling Online.
Integrating artwork in Counselling.
Trauma and Shame.
As part of my Diploma training, I was required to have 30+ hours of personal therapy - I think it's important to mention this as I believe it to be of great importance in understanding the therapeutic process and coming to know myself better.
Previously, and alongside my Private Practice, I worked for five years counselling adult clients for a local counselling charity.
I also trained with Place2Be in London, a children’s mental health charity who work with pupils, families and staff in UK schools and worked with them in Kent as Volunteer Counsellor.
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
I have extensive experience working with adults who have lived through childhood trauma, abuse, neglect and detached parenting.
Survivors of childhood trauma often find they experience difficulties in adulthood including:
• A lack of clear identity.
• Feeling ‘wrong’ or like you don’t belong in the world.
• A pervading sense of deep loneliness.
• A pattern of unsuccessful or abusive relationships.
• Social anxiety and panic attacks.
• Depression.
• Flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and nightmares.
• Feeling detached from the world.
• Anger and rage.
• Low self-esteem.
• Guilt and shame.
• Physical symptoms such as trembling, muscular aches and pains, tiredness, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, palpitations, shallow rapid breathing and dizziness.
Experiencing trauma of any kind can have a profound affect on our well-being and can result in unhealthy coping mechanisms such as avoidance, withdrawal, excessive drinking or taking drugs.
Clients who have explored therapy to help heal past wounds have reported a sense of lightness, new found energy, a sense of purpose and belonging and better relationships.
Please do get in touch if you are living with the effects of trauma so we can start on the path of recovery.
Therapies offered
Fees
£55.00 - £80.00
Free initial online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Once you have decided to get in touch, we can arrange a mutually convenient time for an initial 20-minute Zoom consultation session. This is free of charge and provides an opportunity to begin to get to know one another, to look at what has bought you to seek therapy and is a time for you to decide if I am the right counsellor for you.
Subsequent Video or Telephone sessions are charged at £55 per session. I have some concessions available at a reduced rate of £45 for Counselling and Psychotherapy Students.
Single Session Therapy (brief solution focussed) is charged at £80 for a 90-minute session. The follow-up 30-minute sessions are charged at £40.
Couples Therapy sessions are 60-minutes and usually held on a weekly basis. These sessions are charged at £65.
When I work
Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morning | |||||||
Afternoon | |||||||
Evening | |||||||
Night |
I realise that life can be busy and unpredictable and so aim to be as flexible as possible. Ad-hoc and Single Session Therapy is available at weekends according to availability.
Further information
How I work:
I am primarily trained in Gestalt Therapy and also draw from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Transactional Analysis and Mindfulness. I am a trauma-informed Therapist.
Gestalt Therapy focusses on our here and now experience, in mind and body. It draws together both our past hurts and our fears for the future and brings them into our present moment awareness; our 'stuckness', repeating patterns of thought and behaviour and explores our learned ways of coping that may no longer be useful to us.
Transactional Analysis looks at the roles we develop (the different parts of us, such as our Child part) and how they play out in our lives and relationships.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy looks to explore unhealthy negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression and work with the associated dysfunctional ways of thinking and behaving,
Mindfulness aims to teach us the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going inside or around us.
A trauma-informed Therapist is specifically trained to work safely with trauma. The impact of trauma can threaten a person’s sense of safety and wellbeing, meaning the therapy space must be safe and contained.
Trauma can affect how we regulate our thoughts and feelings causing us to either mentally and physically shut down (hypo-arousal) or experience intense and overwhelming emotions that take over the mind and body (hyper-arousal).
During the course of the therapy, care is taken to ensure that the pace and process is one that will assist in healing without re-traumatising.
Trauma can arise in many forms; childhood (or adulthood) abuse and neglect, manipulation and coercive control, bullying, poverty, war or political violence, discrimination, grief and loss, accidents, illness and medical intervention.
Trauma informed therapy provides a safe space to be heard and held while you work through your struggles at a gentle pace, as well as tools to manage anxiety, flash backs, fear, shame and self doubt.
Also, importantly, to work with the neurological systems that are holding you in danger-mode, so you can return to balance and rest.
Please contact me for a free consultation to discuss your requirements.