Samantha Halstead
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hi, I am an experienced and qualified integrative counsellor and a registered member of the British Association of Counselling Professionals (MBACP). I am a caring, kind, friendly, empathetic and supportive counsellor who will offer you the space to be listened to without judgement and with understanding. Whether you are struggling with anxiety, depression or other mental illness or learning disabilities, I believe we can work together to help find the relevant healthy coping mechanisms for you or assisting in helping you to achieve your life or personal goals.
Previous client feedback has included them feeling that I was considerate and caring towards their individual needs, I offered them the space to feel heard and they felt I supported them through working together to resolve their personal and relationship issues.
I have had personal counselling, marriage counselling, relationship counselling in the past myself and have seen first hand how much value having counselling can add to your life.
I have experience with clients who have had counselling before and clients that have never had counselling. I believe I offer a counselling service that is integrative of your needs. My aim is to build a counselling relationship with you, offer a space where you can be heard, an environment where we can build a therapeutic relationship and I also aim to offer an environment that is non-judgemental and empathetic.
I also offer space for clients with learning disabilities, I have previously worked with adults with learning difficulties. I have a child on the Autistic spectrum and I have a child with ADHD, I also have completed courses on Autism, so I believe I have the ability to provide space for those with learning difficulties or their carers as I believe I have first hand experience of those needs. So if you are a parent or carer struggling or overwhelmed with a child with neurodiverse needs, please feel free to contact me.
I also have completed relevant CPD courses on baby loss and have first hand personal experience of baby loss suffering from a miscarriage myself back in 2019 where I ended up seeking my own personal counselling to assist in my grief process. Sometimes you need an environment that feels caring, secure and an understanding of how hard losing a baby or child can be, I believe I offer that space please feel free to contact me if this is something you feel you need.
I have also covered courses on the Perimenopause and Menopause and worked with clients going through this stage of their lives, maybe this is something that you or your partner are dealing with and would like to have counselling sessions around this, please feel free to get in contact if this is something you are struggling with.
I am currently offering integrative counselling, this type of counselling takes into consideration your individual needs as a client, which is the upmost importance for me, your needs come first, the type of counselling I offer is person centred based, but we may implement other aspects of counselling depending on your individual needs like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques and any other techniques from other modalities that we may find together is helpful in getting your needs met.
If you are not sure which type of counselling may be best for you and whether the type of counselling I offer is suitable to meet your needs, then please feel free to get in touch for more information or an initial consultation where we can discuss.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have knowledge and training in person centred counselling/ humanistic therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, Mindfulness, Trauma,Attachment and Development theory, ethics and diversity, Mental Health Problems, Mental Health First Aid, Baby and Child loss, financial hardship and Autism Awareness (of which I have a child that is Autistic and was diagnosed early in 2023), Menopause awareness. I have a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Contemporary Approaches to counselling and I am a Registered Member of the BACP. Being a Registered member of the BACP means I am bound by their Ethics and Practice.
I have worked with a variation of clients including clients struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, grief and relationship difficulties. I have also worked with clients that are on probation, clients with children in the social care system, clients with learning difficulties, clients struggling with Trauma and clients that have survived domestic and emotional abuse.
I am currently continuing my development by studying qualifications in ADHD, coaching and Level 2 in Young People's and Children's Mental Health.
Qualifications:
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Contemporary Approaches to Counselling
Foundation Degree in Contemporary Approaches to Counselling.
Level 3 Certificate in Counselling.
Level 2 Certificate in Counselling.
Level 2 Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace.
Level 2 Awareness of Mental Health Problems.
Level 2 Understanding Autism.
Certificate in How to do Counselling Online.
Certificate in Training for Infant Loss Awareness.
Certificate in Menopause Awareness.
Certificate in Training for Financial Hardship.
I attend regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses in order to maintain my competence to practice, maintain my skills and my knowledge.
Additionally, I receive regular monthly supervision from an Accredited BACP registered Supervisor.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£35.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
**Special offer, sessions are currently at a reduced rate of £35.00 per session for online and by telephone for a limited time only**
Normal price for counselling sessions are £45.00 per session. Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information regarding my current fees or reduced fees.
I offer an initial free telephone consultation in which we can discuss what your needs are and how we can work together to meet your needs and aims of counselling. Once we have agreed to work together, we can discuss how many sessions we both feel you would need and how often we would review how the session are going and if the sessions are still helping to meet your needs.
All payments will need to made by bank transfer, of which will be outlined in our contract of service together.
Please note: I operate a 48 hours cancellation policy, which means if a session is missed without 48 hours notice or without reasonable explanation then the session will be chargeable.
if you have any further questions, would like to enquire or make an appointment then please feel free to contact me via email, or telephone. Please note I may not always be able to answer your call, email or message straight away but as soon as I am available I will respond to your voice message, email or message.
** PLEASE NOTE- I am not a crisis service so if you require urgent mental health support please contact the NHS on 111, your own GP, local A & E department or Samaritans charity are available 24 Hours a day on 116 123 or by messaging Samaritans SHOUT to 85258.**
When I work
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I offer a variety of hours, if you are unsure about my availability in order for us to work together, then please feel free to get in contact.
Further information
My sessions offer a counselling relationship with space for you to be heard without judgement, openly, honestly, with empathy and with compassion. I am also a registered member of the BACP which means I follow their ethical guidelines and are qualified to their required ethical standards.
Please feel free to contact me with any of your further questions by either phone or by email. Or you can find out more information on my website at www.smhcounselling.co.uk
