Richard Askew, PGDip, MBACP | Personal Therapy and Couples Counselling

About me

Hi, I’m Richard.

I’ve been practising as a psychotherapeutic counsellor for over 10 years. I specialise in issues related to depression, anxiety, abuse, trauma, and relationship problems. During my decade working as a therapist, I’ve witnessed clients of all ages and backgrounds grow, develop and go on to live fulfilling lives.

Life can be difficult. For any number of reasons, we retreat from the world into depression, we live in a state of fearful anxiety, we struggle with emotions that overwhelm us and self-criticism that undermines us. And our relationships suffer as much as we do. And let's not forget external events that seem beyond our control - in our everyday lives and in the broader social context in which we live - that can effect our sense of wellbeing.

Life can be difficult, but at some stage we decide - enough is enough.

Counselling can help us bring about positive change, actualize our potential, live more rewarding and meaningful lives, free ourselves of the things that hinder and hold us back, and help us live with greater ease and confidence.  Sometimes we want to transform our lives - even if we can’t yet imagine what that would look like.

With all of these things, I can help.

How I work

I can offer you a safe and nurturing space to explore whatever issues bring you to therapy and to help you heal and grow.  No-one knows better than you - and that’s why you’re at the heart of what we do.  Rather than telling you what you should do, how you should feel, what you should think, or how you should act, my role is to help you find your own way.

My work is informed by the core humanistic therapies (person-centred, gestalt, and transactional analysis), existential therapy, narrative therapy, systemic therapy, and Buddhist psychology.

Guided by these therapeutic approaches, my practice focuses on three key areas:

• our sense of self
• the quality of our relationships with other people, and
• our sense of place in the world

… because our difficulties are typically rooted in any or all of these areas.  Our focus may shift from the past to the present, from significant life events to longstanding issues, and between difficult emotions, unhelpful beliefs, and problematic behaviours.

Alongside psychological theory, my work is also informed by philosophy (I'm a philosophy graduate), neuroscience, the social sciences - together with anything else that helps us make sense of the lives that we're living.

Couples Counselling

My work with couples includes all of this, together with a commitment to offer you both impartial support, explore and resolve the difficulties that have arisen between you, and help bring you closer together.  We do this by exploring conflicts, improving communication, restoring affection, and helping you both identify and assert your needs, wants and wishes.

What you can expect

Through the work, I’ll help you:

• foster greater clarity, self-awareness, and understanding
• develop a secure and positive sense of self
• encourage a deeper sense of self-confidence and self-acceptance
• restore balance and ease emotional pain
• improve the quality of your relationships
• renew your sense of place in the world, and
• enhance your personal agency, so you can live the kind of life you want to live

After all, it’s only by understanding yourself and your situation that you can take action to change your world.

A few words on inclusion

I’m an active advocate for diversity and inclusion.  I give great thought to the social and cultural factors that lead to discrimination, marginalisation, and prejudice against women, members of the LGBTQI community, people who are disabled, members of ‘different’ cultural, social and religious communities, and those whose ethnicity happens to be non-white or whose nationality happens to be non-British. I also recognise the great harm that can be caused by prejudice, discrimination and marginalisation.  While I might not always get it right, I’ll always attempt to offer you a safe space where we can recognise and appreciate all that we share in common and celebrate everything that makes you distinctively you.

Getting in touch

Only you can bring about change, but I’m ready to accompany you every step of the way.

To get things started, you can either:

• call me for a free informal telephone consultation to discuss how we can work together, or
• simply email me and I can get us booked in for your first appointment

I’ll look forward to hearing from you….

Testimonials

“My experience of counselling was safe, positive, and empowering.  It’s been helpful being able to learn about myself in a judgment free environment and to take time to focus on me as a whole person.  I feel comfortable in my own skin and able to take control and change situations that would of previously been very daunting”, AT

“We just wanted to say what a profound difference our sessions have made to our lives.  Sarah and I are as strong as ever; we're expecting a new child, and have found strength through a challenging 6 months.  Because of our sessions we've been able to deal with these challenges together and remember the lessons that we learnt”, SN & TR.

“Counseling has been extremely positive. Richard is warm, open and non-judgmental. He provided a safe space for me to talk and be heard and enabled me to find my own solutions to the situations and issues that we explored.  I now feel stronger, more resilient and assertive. From feeling lost and out of control, I now feel empowered and excited about life and my future”, DC

“I found counseling to be very helpful and fulfilling, and I feel my life is moving in a positive direction again.  I’ve found myself wanting to get involved in new and different experiences and have discovered a newfound love for my friends and family. Since counseling ended, I’ve been feeling happy in myself, more aware of what’s important to me, free, confident, and fulfilled”, JG