Rob Porteous
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I have 20 years experience as a counsellor in private practice in south Bristol. I also was for 10 years a counsellor in a Primary Care setting. Currently, I see many clients long-term, looking at issues that may go back into early childhood experience. I also work short-term with clients on specific problems they want to address.
In my counselling, I start with the aim of giving close attention to the issue you bring. I want to understand it from your point of view and see if, together, we can get under the skin of the experience, so as to be clearer about the work that needs to be done. My intention is to support your desire for change at the same time as honouring the loss that change also brings. Understanding what gets in the way of our wish to do things differently is, for me, an important part of enabling us to let go of old patterns and open to new ways of relating to the world around us.
I am very interested in the story you bring, the narrative that has helped you make sense of your experience. At the same time I try to be sensitive to what may need to change: for example, the often unconscious assumptions about our place in the world that have outlived their usefulness. In this exploration of what change means for you, we will give attention to the embodied experience that lies behind your story, and to what is going on in the room between us that can show how, and where, things get stuck.
My work, both short and long term, is built on forming a strong, attentive relationship, where together we can be interested in what is going on for you, what it may mean, and what your next steps may be towards a more fulfilling and sustainable life.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling from the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling. In 2005 I gained a post graduate certificate in counselling supervision from Leicester University. I also have an MA in Education, having spent 30 years as an English teacher in secondary schools. I am accredited by BACP.
In addition, for the last 20 years I have been involved in dance, first 5 Rhythms, and now Movement Medicine, which has significantly informed my work. Movement Medicine is an expressive dance practice that increases our ability to be present to the here-and-now of our embodied experience. I am a qualified Movement Medicine facilitator. I have offered workshops that combine movement, story-telling and therapeutic work.
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
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
Additional information
I charge £40 for each 50 minute session, with some concessionary places.
When I work
Monday- Friday, 8.30 am to 7.00 pm
