Fiona Phillips
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hi, Im Fiona. I'm an integritively trained, fully qualified counsellor in Gravesend.
As a person, I am patient, warm and friendly. I like to think that my clients feel comfortable with me. Although I have lots of qualifications to help do my job, I am a down to earth person too. YOU are the expert in your life, I am just the person YOU choose to help you unravel your difficulties. My personal qualities show in my counselling work, and I absolutely thrive when working with others to help them achieve their goals.
I firmly believe that building secure relationship with a counsellor is key to how successful therapy will be for you. I know that when we consider finding a counsellor, It can be an anxiety provoking experience... with so many different therapists to choose from where do we start? All counsellors on this site are fully trained, and qualified, so you don't have to worry about that. The counselling directory has done that work for you.
Like other counsellors I 'know my stuff". I may be down to earth, but I take my learned skills and knowledge seriously (behind the scenes!) I really do work in tailored ways with each of my clients. I have lots of methods and means of working with others in an ethical and productive way. I am a firm believer that the client knows what is best for them (person centered approach), and will never force our work in a direction you are not comfortable with.
I believe that inner child work can be very powerful. Our core beliefs can have a major impact on who we are today. I love helping others connect with the past and overcome learned beliefs that are not helpful or useful to us in our adult lives.
I love using stones, and other forms of art therapy, but please remember, I fully appreciate that they aren't everyones 'cup of tea'.
I am also very aware that a lot of people may prefer a more logical and "here and now" approach. I find that CBT (Cognitive Behavioual Therapy) can be really effective for a lot of people, and I am ready and willing to help you focus on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and behaviour, and I can help teach you coping skills for dealing with different problems.
With my guidance, you can learn about your patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours and how to exert your power of choice over what life throws at you.
During an initial no-obligation assessment with a potential client, I will start to get a feel for what might work for you. I am very interested in what your expectations and desired outcomes for counselling are. Every client I already see is of course unique, and I work with everyone differently. I've been told on several occasions that clients have appreciated my warm, and calm approach. There is never any pressure to book for further sessions after assessment.
You may feel that counselling will be beneficial to you, as it will simply be good to have someone to talk to. If that is the case, I can do simply that. I am able to listen to others, with a very non judgemental approach. I will be there to support you, with no hidden agenda, and help you process what you are saying with very simple gestures that you probably wont even notice.
Others might want more directive help in understanding their thoughts and feelings. I can offer lots of help with this too. I will ask you questions that might provoke your mind, and untangle thoughts that you may not have previously understood. I'm not here to offer you advice... that would be very unethical indeed. Instead, I am here to gently guide and support you in making your own decisions. My integritive style of training, alongside my personality allows me to very successfully work with all sorts of presenting issues.
Training, qualifications & experience
"Mental health" is a widely publisiced topic nowadays. My backround is in this field, and I have lots of experience with clients who have both severe and mild types of mental health issues. Anxiety and depression are both very common, but individual to each persons experience. I recognise and help many people with these issues through their own personal experience, and have worked with numerous individuals that also have diagnosis of less common mental health problems. I am also very experienced in helping others with the impact it can have to help a loved one through mental health issues.
I've worked in hospice care, Including bereavement and managing the many emotions that surround terminal illness. Grief and loss are emotions/phases that most of us endure at some point in our lives, but that in no way makes it easy to live through. Many of us have to go through loss without death, by means of relationship breakdown, geographical distance from our loved ones, losing our job, and so many other causes which are all very difficult.
I have a wide range of other experiences working with a huge variety of presenting issues, including :
Domestic violence, Addictions, OCD, Bullying, Trauma, PTSD, Gender identity issues, Physical illness, Stress, Issues surrounding sexuality, and much more.
I hold the following qualifications (and have more, as I am continually having ongoing training to keep my learning, and knowledge current. These cover many areas and are too long to list.)
- Level 2 counselling studies CPCAB
- Level 3 Counselling skills CPCAB
- Level 4 Diploma in therapeutic Counselling CPCAB
- Freedom Programme Training (for working with victims of domestic abuse)
- Treating Intrusive Thoughts and the inner critical voice.
- Autism Awareness
- Narcisistic abuse.
- Inner child healing Diploma
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
Inner child healing
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Up to £70.00
Free initial telephone session
Additional information
Individual Counselling costs £60 per 50-60 minutes during daytimes Monday-Thursday. I am able to be flexible if finances are difficult.
I am able to offer a limited number of evening appointments for £70 per 50-60 minute session. Unfortunately these sessions are very popular and therefore get booked up quite quickly. I am unable to reduce the cost of these sessions.
***Please note; Although I am willing to negotiate costs for those on low incomes and students, these spaces for low cost counselling are limited. Please contact me to discuss availability.
When I work
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I like to be flexible, and offer weekday, and evening appointments between Monday-Thursday. I am currently unable to take any weekend bookings.
Further information
To ensure my fastest response, sending a direct message via text or WhatsApp is best, although I will endeavour to reply to emails as soon as possible.
If you would prefer to have sessions by video call I am happy to do so. Please let me know your preference and I’ll do my best to accommodate you either way.
