Rhian Gower
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a welcoming, open-minded and fully qualified counsellor who is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I hold profound respect for those I work with and sensitivity for the unique needs and perspectives each person brings. Sessions with me are a joint project in which we come to understand what life is like for you and what you need in order to move forward.
What brings you to counselling?
You may be struggling to keep anxiety, stress, loneliness or depression at arm's length, coping with family conflict, childhood trauma, ADHD, chronic illness or difficulties related to sexuality and relationships. There may be a particular difficulty you are facing or a vaguer sense that there must be more to life.
It takes courage to turn towards what is troubling us and it can help to do this from within the safety of a supportive and accepting relationship.
How I work
Integrative Counselling - I draw on a range of counselling modalities depending on your needs.
I believe we each have the potential to work through and grow from the difficulties we face, and process even the most painful of feelings, but sometimes we need support with that.
The process of exploring in-depth what is troubling us with someone who is really listening, not just to your words but to the person behind them, can in itself be a healing process. It may also bring to light beliefs and ways of living that are holding you back.
Somatic and Mind-Body Interventions - My work is informed by contemporary understanding of the resolution of distress and trauma. When something more is needed than talking alone, Brainspotting (a therapy that evolved out of EMDR) can offer a gentle but powerful way to access deeper areas of the brain where emotional difficulties arise. This therapy uses eye position along with sensitive relational attunement on the part of the therapist. It is particularly effective at helping people move beyond troubling and persistent emotional states and preoccupations.
I also draw on Internal Family Systems as a way to explore and understand inner conflicts and difficulties and to find ways to move beyond patterns that are no longer serving us.
In summary - I offer a relationship that invites a deeper connection with yourself and with the aspects of your personality and perspectives that may have been pushed to one side. My aim is to help you rediscover the resources, strengths and wisdom that are yours and that can free you up to live with greater purpose and energy.
There is a lot more I could say about who I am and what I bring to my work but more important is the impression you get of me and your gut feeling about whether I can be of help. It is for that reason that I offer a free initial consultation so you can talk through any questions or concerns and decide about arranging further sessions.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
- I am a fully qualified counsellor with a Postgraduate Diploma in Humanistic Therapeutic Counselling with Distinction - 2013
- Masters in Critical Theory with Distinction.
Experience
- Establishing a pilot project to provide free counselling in a deprived area. The project secured NHS funding.
- Sixteen years of experience working with young people in schools, colleges and community settings.
- Seventeen years of experience working with people in crisis.
- Employment-based coach for Brighton Council.
- Counsellor for new parents with a local charity.
- Coordinating a counselling service for adults at risk of suicide.
Current work
- Managing therapy services for a Sussex-based charity.
Further training
- Psychosexual Issues
- Eating Disorders
- ADHD in the therapy room
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
- Working Therapeutically with Parents
- Attachment and Trauma
- Child Development
- Therapy with Trans Individuals
- Family Systems Approach
- Advanced Safeguarding for adults and children
- Creative approaches to therapy (art and sandtray)
- Therapy for Adult Children of Narcissists
- Diploma in Group Therapy training
- Brainspotting Phases 1 and 2
- I have also delivered training in Equalities and Diversity
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
- Navigating polyamory and Ethical Non Monogamy
- Living and coping with ADHD
- Trauma and emotional difficulties from childhood, including:
- estrangement/strained relationships with parents
- absent parents, Childhood Emotional Neglect
- growing up with parents who had mental health issues
- adult survivors of Narcissistic parenting
- Health issues, including:
- autoimmune issues
- Long Covid
- ME/CFS
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Loneliness, isolation, despair
- Dating, break-ups, heartbreak
- Loss of direction and motivation
- Values, beliefs and politics
- Integration of psychedelic experiences or bad trips with psilocybin/mushrooms, ayahuasca, DMT, LSD, ketamine or MDMA. Please note that this is therapeutic support after (rather than during) an experience.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£65.00 per session
Free initial online session
Additional information
I offer a free initial consultation.
My fees for counselling sessions (lasting 50 minutes): £65
When I work
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Further information
Regarding the number of sessions offered, I provide short-term or longer term therapy for adults aged 21+.
I currently work online and have a limited number of face-to-face sessions in the Fiveways area of Brighton (subject to availability).
If you would like to book an initial appointment or if you have any questions you wish to ask, please don't hesitate to phone, text or email me.
- 07886308520
- rhian.gower.counselling@gmail.com
Taking the step of contacting a counsellor can be daunting but you don’t have to be on your own with what you are going through.
