Sheila Coles
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello - thank you for visiting my profile page.
I am an Integrative Psychotherapist and EMDR Therapist experienced in working with adult clients facing a wide range of life challenges and traumatic experiences. I offer one-to-one counselling sessions online and in person in Wokingham, Berkshire.
I believe that our psychological wellbeing is ever changing as we experience and respond to different life contexts and changing relationships in our families, work-life and social life. Sometimes life events stop us in our tracks. Sometimes we have a sense of something not being quite right in ourselves or feel tensions in our relationships. Sometimes we feel we’re not functioning in the world in the ways we’d like. We might feel angry, afraid, depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected from ourselves and others. I offer therapy to support you to work through these times.
How I Work as a Therapist
I work from a relational perspective drawing on humanistic and psychodynamic therapeutic traditions. For you this means:
- Relational - I offer a safe confidential space where we can work together with the issues you bring to counselling. Forming a strong alliance allows us to work together as adults in a relationship that supports your development.
- Humanistic - I listen with respect and empathy, attempting to understand as closely as possible your experience of being in the world. We work together with a focus on what and how you would like to be different.
- Psychodynamic - I am curious about your experiences beyond the here and now. Exploring patterns of thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and sensation experienced across time and in different contexts can help us make sense of the issues you bring.
- Integrative - My in-depth training in diverse well-researched aspects of counselling psychology allows me to draw on resources and approaches well fitted to your goals for therapy.
I use EMDR therapy to work with traumatic experience.
EMDR targets past experiences, current triggers, and future potential challenges, in working towards: reducing mental, physical, and behavioural symptoms; decreasing distress from disturbing memories; and promoting a healthy sense of self.
How to Begin Working with Me
Please use the contact details provided here to make an initial enquiry about working with me. I offer a free fifteen-minute phone call to understand what you would like to bring to therapy. Sometimes it might be difficult to say exactly what that is: and that’s fine. After speaking we might arrange an initial meeting to explore your situation and see if we each feel we could work together. If we plan to go ahead together, we will agree on a regular weekly meeting time and proposed timescale for our work. Sometimes this work will be relatively contained over an agreed number of sessions. Sometimes we’ll set a more open-ended timescale. It depends on what you’d like to explore: and we will review how the work is going on a regular basis.
The Quality of my Work
I attend weekly personal therapy myself with a Registered Psychotherapist and at least fortnightly supervision with senior qualified practitioners to support me in providing safe, ethical, quality professional clinical practice. I follow the united Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy's Ethical Framework and have Enhanced Clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service. I am a member of EMDR Association UK.
Training, qualifications & experience
My Qualifications Include
- Clinical Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy - Metanoia Institute, London
- Clinical Diploma in Integrative Psychodynamic Counselling – Metanoia Institute, London
- MSc in Career Management and Counselling – Birkbeck, University of London
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education – University of Aberdeen
- BSc (Hons) in Psychology – University of Aberdeen
- Doctor of Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy - I am currently completing my practitioner research project. This programme is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as training towards Registered Counselling Psychologist status. It is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as training towards Chartered Psychologist status.
Professional Memberships
I am a member of a number of professional bodies:
- UK Council for Psychotherapy - UKCP
- British Psychological Society: Graduate Member – MBPsS
- British Psychological Society: Member of Counselling Psychology Division
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Registered Member – MBACP
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Member of Private Practice and Workplace Divisions
- EMDR Association UK
My Continuing Professional Development
In addition to professional qualifications, I regularly attend short courses to support develop my professional practice. These include:
- Systems-Psychodynamic Approach to Group Facilitation
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
- Critical Incident Stress Management
- Restorative Resolution Practitioner
- Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Daily Life
- Working with Complex Trauma and Personality Disorder
- Gender Identity and Trauma
- Psychiatric Medication
- Clinical Assessment
- Making the Most of Clinical Supervision
- Addiction: A Relational Issue
- Self-Care for Psychotherapists
- Using Mindfulness to Tackle Rumination and Worry
- Psychodynamic Perspectives on Career Development
- An Introduction to Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace
My Experience as a Counsellor
I have extensive experience working with clients in a range of settings:
- Staff Counsellor for an NHS Mental Health Trust
- NHS IAPT Time Limited Counselling within a GP surgery
- Long Term Counselling within Community based Charity run Counselling Services
- Short Term Counselling within a University Student Wellbeing Service
- Activity Coordination for in-patients within an NHS Mental Health Hospital
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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
I also practice as a Career Coach and have an MSc in Career Management and Counselling. I can offer support with diverse work related issues and am a British Psychological Society Registered Test User for Personality and Occupational Ability measures.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£80.00 per session
When I work
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Further information
Please call, message, or leave a voicemail on 07738 228815 to enquire about working together.
