Russ Thompson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
How I can help you
I understand how daunting and scary it can be to visit a counsellor to discuss your innermost private thoughts.
I offer sensitive, gentle and confidential counselling and coaching conversations intended to put you at ease and help you to feel safe so we can work out ways to help you.
Humanistic counselling and coaching sessions for adults (18+) are available with me in comfortable, safe and private therapy rooms in Witney and optionally, Wantage, Oxfordshire.
Counselling for when life is difficult, complicated, overwhelming or downright painful and you need safe, emotional and relational support to help find your way back to you and the wellness you deserve.
Coaching for when you’d like to be the very best version of yourself, and you could use a helping hand to get there and realise your dreams.
I adhere to a humanistic and positive psychology approach in my counselling and coaching practice which means I strive to help people fulfil their potential and maximise their well-being through the client services I offer.
I subscribe to the optimistic idea that everyone has the potential and resources for self-understanding, self-direction (self-determination) and growth, if those resources can be effectively mobilised via helping.
A central aim of the experiential way I work is to help you develop self-awareness. We do this via our therapeutic relationship to create a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space for you to explore your experiences and feelings about them, make sense and find meaning in this process, focus on your strengths and start to accept and know yourself more.
Increasing self-awareness may help you notice possible hidden attitudes, feelings or behaviours that you have in relation to your current situation or problems. When we become more aware of ourselves in this way then there is the choice and possibility to challenge and change old unhelpful patterns into something better that will support you much more now and in future.
Humans are relational beings. We will work together to establish a warm, safe and effective therapeutic relationship and it is through this relationship that the work of change and healing takes place.
Humanistic therapy is a personalised experience crafted to serve your specific needs and goals which puts you right at the centre of our work together and allows you to guide your sessions to get what you need.
You are the expert on your own life experiences and situations and we work together to explore and understand your needs and issues in our therapeutic or coaching journey.
As well as humanistic therapy, I offer developmental coaching and NLP coaching, both grounded in positive psychology principles.
Developmental coaching is a modern evidence-based style of coaching practice helping clients to expand in outlook and attitude as individuals as they work through their life experiences.
Inherent in developmental coaching is an assumption of movement from where you are now to where you want to be.
Alternatively, I am able to offer an integrated form of therapeutic coaching incorporating and combining aspects of therapy and coaching suited to your individual needs.
Am I the right therapist or coach for you?
Finding the right therapist for you is a vital part of your successful therapeutic journey to wellness.
If you make initial contact with me by e-mail or telephone, I will invite you to our first session together which will be a free-of-charge, no obligation opening call (video or telephone - your preference) for about 20 minutes to give us the space to introduce ourselves and to confidentially start to explore your issues and expectations (i.e., what you hope to get out of therapy or coaching).
This helps you decide from the start if I am the right therapist or coach for you.
If we do agree to work together, I will send you a working agreement document that sets out my terms and conditions, together with a GDPR consent form for you to read and accept (sign and return) if you agree, before we arrange our next meeting together.
Our early sessions will be about getting to know each other and establishing our way of working together whilst respectfully exploring your stuff.
All sessions will be conducted with openness, empathy, authenticity (genuineness) and positive regard (where I accept you as you are).
I offer to work flexibly to arrange counselling or coaching sessions in a way that suits you - we can meet face-to-face in comfortable and private therapy rooms in either Witney or Wantage or alternatively online (or a mix to suit your needs).
These are safe, confidential spaces for us to explore your thoughts, feelings and aspirations, non-judgmentally for when life becomes difficult.
As a registered member of the BACP, I work within the established ethical framework and also undertake regular CPD training.
Training, qualifications & experience
After an extensive career in academic and industrial scientific R&D, new business development and innovation management, I formed a new company to offer coaching and consultancy services to clients. Over time, I’ve trained in and added psychotherapeutic counselling qualifications and related experience to what I can offer my clients.
In terms of helping skills:
- I trained as a counsellor in Wantage, Oxfordshire where I achieved my Certificate and Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling from Orchard Counselling and Mercure Counselling and Training Alliance, respectively
- I trained in coaching at the internationally recognised Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies in the Business School at Oxford Brookes University where I was awarded a Certificate, Diploma and then a Master's degree, MA in Coaching and Mentoring Practice [MA dissertation research topic: Use of Metaphor in Coaching and Mentoring - distinction]
- I trained in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), NLP Coaching, Time-Line Therapy® and Hypnosis at The Performance Partnership, London to Master Practitioner level
I can provide both long and short-term psychotherapy and counselling for adults (18+) depending on what is required
I undertake regular supervision and ongoing professional development to ensure a high standard of working with clients
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
Types of therapy and coaching available:
Humanistic and experiential therapy, including aspects of person-centred, existential, Gestalt, emotion-focused, phenomenological, relational, and pluralistic therapies.
My coaching style includes developmental coaching, NLP coaching, positive psychology coaching and metaphor-based coaching.
Developmental coaching is concerned with helping clients to expand in outlook and attitude as individuals as they work through their life experiences in order to achieve personal growth.
Alternatively, I am able to offer an integrated form of therapeutic coaching which incorporates aspects of both therapy and coaching, suited to individual needs.
Counselling for:
- Emotional support
- Coping when life is confusing and/or complicated
- Stress
- Anxiety including social anxiety, panic attacks
- Health/fitness anxieties and sleep issues
- Coping with poor health
- Depression
- Trauma
- Alienation, loneliness
- Relationship issues
- Family-related issues
- Work and career-related issues
- Conflict (at home or work)
- Life transitions - helping to cope with significant life changes and events
- When you feel you have lost your way
- Self-esteem
- Self-worth
- Self-trust
- Grief
- Bereavement (whether a relative or friend)
- Loss (e.g., losing your ability to do something, losing your job, losing your relationship)
- Anger
- Sadness
- Fear (of rejection or abandonment)
- Hurt
- Guilt
- Shame
- Trying to make sense of your life (search for meaning)
- Being stuck
- Developing new strategies for living (or coping)
- OCD
- Addiction or substance abuse
- Recovery
- Emotional freedom
- Personality disorders
- Self-esteem struggles
Coaching for:
- Personal and professional development needs [personal growth]
- Problem-solving
- Work-related and career issues
- Coping with change processes
- Help with achieving your desired outcomes (desired future states)
- Goals (plans) - goal setting (SMART), action plans for your future, motivation to achieve
- Procrastination
- self-sabotage
- Self-defeating thoughts and actions
- Limiting beliefs and/or decisions
- Self-destructive thoughts, feelings and behaviours
- Personal growth
- Self-confidence
- Self-belief
- Self-development
- Self-improvement
- Being stuck and becoming unstuck
- Gaining insight or self-awareness
- Self-discovery - what drives you and what your abilities are
- Helping you to find your answers
- Unlocking your potential
- Breaking unhelpful old patterns of behaviour
- Building self-efficacy
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 per session
Additional information
Rates: £60 per session for 50 minutes of counselling
Interactive single coaching sessions typically last for 90 minutes duration
Coaching is normally booked in blocks of sessions
Contact me for coaching session fees - block bookings/concessions are available
An integrated form of therapeutic coaching is also available (rates are negotiable)
When I work
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My availability for counselling and coaching:
Afternoon and evening sessions Monday to Friday
Some availability late mornings (Mon-Fri) and/or at weekends – negotiable
Further information
My most recent academic research paper on 'Use of Metaphor in Coaching and Mentoring'
In summary:
Our work together will help you achieve emotional wellbeing and personal growth via constructive discussion in a safe, supportive, and listening relationship
My aim is to help you with and through life's difficulties, making sense of your situation through gentle conversation and with you coming out the other end with a new perspective on things
I understand that it can be very daunting to seek help, particularly for the first time
However, if you are interested, please do e-mail me or pick up the telephone and call me
