This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello, my name is Orla (they/them), welcome to my page. As a counsellor and human, I am all too aware of how daunting it can be to take that first step towards counselling. If you are reading this page, well done for getting this far. Sometimes in life, we can start to feel stressed or overwhelmed and we need some help, someone to listen. It isn’t always possible to work out what we need or how to feel more whole within the communities or support systems we may already have in place.
I practice with curiosity, creativity and empathy to help you unfold your story and have a space that honours you. I work with clients to break down hierarchy and encourage empowerment in the therapeutic process, human to human. I can offer you a safe and understanding space in which you can explore whatever it is that is on your mind. No problem is too small or too big, because you matter.
I am trauma-informed and work deeply with clients to identify the wounds holding them back in life, helping them to lean into the pain so it can receive the attention it needs to heal. We are taught to avoid or fix our pain; this is a misguided myth; in the context of therapy, the solution is in building enough trust in the therapeutic relationship to make space for your experience to breathe. In doing this inner freedom begins to be enabled. It's hard work, but it's heart work, and I am here to guide and hold you in this process.
I have been working in the field of mental health for over 15 years. I have a background in mental health user involvement and am passionate about placing the client's experience at the centre of therapy. I have worked with organisations such as Gendered Intelligence, Stonewall, Bipolar UK, the Advocacy Project and the NHS.
Instagram: @openheart.healing
Website: https://www.youmattertherapy.org/ (name and website under construction)
Training, qualifications & experience
"It’s the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals" - Yalom
I am an integrative relational therapist. I am culturally attuned in my work and call upon multiple therapeutic theories including: person-centred, psychodynamic and transpersonal.
I am also a qualified reiki practitioner and use this in my therapeutic practice to help connect with the body if this feels aligned for the client and the work; reiki helps the body to relax, intuition to arise and stored energy in the body to release. Additionally, I use a technique called focusing, a meditative practice that aids bodily enquiry and deeper listening to the inner experience.
I work with a wide variety of issues: abuse (including narcissistic abuse), sexual trauma, racial trauma and identity, depression, empath and HSP (highly sensitive people) challenges, eco/poly-crisis distress, activist burnout, LGBTQ+ (including gender dysphoria and transitioning), relationship issues, codependency, hearing voices, ADHD, low self-esteem, stress, bereavement, inner child work, sex and love addiction, anxiety, self-harm and more.
Working with issues concerning intersectionality and identity journeying are areas of particular passion for me. For those it is meaningful to, I identify as a Non-binary, Queer person with British and European heritage. I am a neurodivergent person with mental health lived experience; my lived experience informs my practice and I provide an inclusive space in which all aspects of identity can be honoured and repaired where there has been shame planted. Whether you have had wounding in your identity as a result of your age, gender, sexual preference, sexual orientation, kink identity, relationship diversity, religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, neurodiversity, health, heritage, education, social background, class or political belief - together we can cultivate an environment in which you can move through the fire of that shame and walk out into empowerment and pride.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 - £120.00
Additional information
The initial session will be an opportunity for you to discuss with me what your concerns are and what you would like to explore in counselling. If it feels like a good fit, we can arrange for further sessions.
I encourage those with wealth privilege to pay it forward so there is equity in the service. My pay scale is £80-£120 per 50-minute session. A number of concessionary sessions outside of this pay scale are available for those in need, please let me know what you can afford on a weekly basis and we can go from there, I work with people on an individual basis to come to an arrangement.
Further information
I am available for sessions Monday-Friday 10.30am to 6pm.
I work face to face practice in Brighton with an online Zoom practice offering therapy UK wide and abroad.
Therapy sessions are usually on a weekly basis at the same allotted time, there can be flexibility with this depending on your needs and my availability.
