About me
Hello, my name is Paul, I am a Counsellor registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), working within a person-centred/assimilative integrative model of therapy. Having studied at New College Durham and been awarded a BA (Hons) in Counselling, I possess a wealth of personal lifetime and counselling experience.
I aim to offer a warm, safe, confidential and nurturing environment, in which a respectful therapeutic relationship can be established. This will allow you to explore your current life issues and difficulties in a way that feels comfortable for you.
I consider each individual to be unique, to possess value and to be deserving of respect in choosing their own direction in life and the values which define them.
I believe that you are the sole expert in your internal world and the only person who accurately understands how you feel, the only one who can decide who and how you should be, what the true meaning of your life is and how it should be lived.
I also believe that the therapeutic relationship between us will be the most important aspect of counselling. This therapeutic relationship can provide you with a space to feel truly accepted, heard and understood in a non-judgemental empathic environment. You will experience me as a real and genuine person within this relationship. I will be open and transparent with my feelings and emotions as I experience them in the moment, rather than assuming the role of an expert dispensing prescriptive solutions to your problems.
I am not the expert in your life, I believe that the answers are within yourself, and my role in therapy is to be alongside you, to support you, to understand, to explore, to challenge where appropriate and also to clarify. I am accustomed to long spells of silence, tears and strong emotions being expressed.
Issues I work with
Issues I work with include; bereavement, anticipatory grief, depression, anxiety, stress, low self esteem, self harm, suicidal ideation, work related stress, relationships, domestic abuse, drug & alcohol misuse, loneliness, isolation, life transitions, retirement issues, childhood sexual abuse, childhood emotional abuse, childhood physical abuse, eating disorders, war/veteran related mental health issues, including PTSD and family/re-integration issues.
How we could work together;
Trained in the Person Centred model of counselling, I embrace this 'way of being' as both 'essential and fundamental to my practice.
Furthermore, I have a firm belief in the positive nature of all human beings. This positive nature will always strive to make the most of our lives, no matter what difficulties or issues we find ourselves faced with.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
- BA (Hons) in Counselling
- FdA in Counselling
- MBACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)
- BACP Register of Counsellors & Psychotherapists
Training
- Meaning and Safety in Counselling
- Safe Guarding Children
- Safe Guarding Vulnerable Adults,
- Working with Abuse
- Domestic Abuse Awareness
- Tackling Violence against Women & Girls
- Working with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence
- Emotional Health and Wellbeing
- Diversity Awareness
- Psychosexual Therapy
- Health & Wellbeing of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual & Transgender
- Building Intercultural Therapeutic Space
- Psyche and Soma: the Hidden World of Eating Disorders
- Gestalt: The Therapy of Dreams
- Complex Needs
- Working with those Who Self harm
- Suicide Prevention
- Personality Disorders
- Dual Diagnosis – Mental Health
- Substance Misuse Awareness
- Blood-Borne Virus Awareness
- Brief Intervention – Alcohol Misuse
- Brief Intervention – Smoking Cessation
- Exploring Novel Psychoactive Substances (Legal Highs)
- Drugs & Alcohol Recovery, 12 Step Programme Delivery
- War Veterans Awareness Tier 2
- War Veterans Awareness Tier 3
- Trauma Counselling
- Veterans Peer Support
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
Military Conditioning/Post service Adjustment
Anticipatory Grief/Bereavement
Anger Management
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£70.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Your first appointment, which is an assessment/consultation, will last approximately 30 - 40 minutes and is charged at £30. This will enable us to establish your presenting issues and the appropriateness of our working together.
All subsequent appointments are charged at £60 per therapeutic hour (50 mins), which is payable by cash, cheque or bank transfer before the beginning of each appointment.
Students, the unwaged and those on benefits are charged at £50 per therapeutic hour.
When I work
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Further information
Counselling will be carried out from a comfortable, dedicated treatment room within my home, in a quiet residential setting with ample on-site parking facilities.
