Stjohn Small
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Have you ever felt like you wanted help but find it difficult to find the right words?
Does the thought of talking to someone feel too overwhelming, intimidating or triggering?
Have you tried counselling or talking therapy before and didn’t get what you need?
Maybe you’re experiencing anxiety, depression or work-related stress, you have a mental health condition, personality disorder or are neurodivergent.
Maybe you’ve experienced trauma, harm or distressing life events, you need a space to explore your gender, sexuality or identity, are having family issues, or maybe something in your life doesn’t feel the way you want it to.
Maybe you just want to be seen and heard for who you are.
As a HCPC registered Art Therapist, with a background in talking therapies, I can offer you a unique blend of both, using creative materials to explore whatever challenges, stressors or experiences you bring. Using art in therapy has so many benefits, including:
- Helping to ground and regulate your emotions whilst exploring challenging thoughts, feelings and experiences
- Giving you a way to express and explore topics that might be too difficult to voice out loud
- Encouraging creative problem-solving which can be applied to daily life
- Exploring your subconscious mind, helping you to understand unhelpful or self-destructive patterns of behaviour
- Boosting low self-esteem and self-image through creativity
- Increasing positive mindsets and decreasing symptoms of depression
- Exploring and connecting with your inner child, helping you to rewrite childhood experiences and indulge your inner need for playfulness
- Aiding brain growth and the development of new brain pathways, which is especially beneficial for trauma recovery, developmental delays and altering negative thought patterns
One common misconception about art therapy is that you need to be “good” at drawing to benefit. Art therapy is not an art class or a craft club, it’s a place to explore your inner self using a range of art materials, including paint, clay, collage, beading and more. As a humanistic therapist, I encourage you to choose your materials and use them in whatever way feels right to you. Anyone can benefit from art therapy, though it can be especially beneficial for people who are less able to articulate themselves verbally or find traditional talking therapies unhelpful. Just some examples include people with autism, ADHD or other neurodivergent people who may struggle with eye contact, sitting still or talking in a linear way.
I use an integrative model to counselling, which means I combine different therapeutic approaches together to meet your needs on an individual basis. This includes person-centred counselling, psychoanalysis, psychodynamic therapy, transactional analysis and inner child therapy, as well as techniques from gestalt therapy, CBT, mindfulness and drama therapy. I am a humanistic therapist, meaning at my very core I believe you are the expert in your own life and needs, and will always aim to support you in empowering yourself within therapy.
As a therapist who has worked in trauma services for over 8 years, I have a strong trauma-informed background, which includes helping to keep you regulated in a safe way, helping you recognise and respond to triggers in daily life, understanding and ability to work with people who have developed mental health conditions from traumatic experiences such as PTSD, complex PTSD, borderline personality disorder, attachment disorders, anxiety disorders and more. I have extensive experience working with survivors (of all ages) of sexual violence, domestic abuse and childhood abuse, as well as working with children and young people who have developmental trauma that has impacted on their social, emotional, physical or psychological growth.
As a queer therapist, I also specialise in working with Gender, Sexual and Romantic Diversity (GSRD), which includes people from the LGBTQIA+ community, people who are polyamorous, ethically non-monogamous, people who engage in kink or BDSM, or anyone who feels they sit outside the cis, hetero, monogamous norms within British society.
- Alongside my therapy practice, I am a Programme Leader and Lecturer at a prominent university in Manchester, where I teach trainee counsellors and therapists. As part of this role, I have a strong understanding of the BACP ethical framework and BACP guidance in general, making me an ideal therapist or supervisor for any trainee counsellor/therapist. I use the seven-eyed model of supervision and I offer both talking and art-based supervision, which many supervisees find helps them explore unconscious biases or subconscious drives within their practice, making them stronger, more ethical therapists.
Training, qualifications & experience
- MA Art Psychotherapy
- BA (Hons) Counselling
- Diploma in Transactional Analysis
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) (teaching qualification)
I am committed to continuously developing as a therapist, which includes engaging in training, attending conferences and events, and maintaining up to date understanding of research and development within the fields of counselling and mental health. This has included:
- Trauma and Abuse
- Developmental Trauma and Brain Impairment
- Gender, Sexual and Romantic Diversity (GSRD) including LGBTQIA+ community, ethical non-monogamy and kink
- Neuorodivergence
- Mental Health
- Personality Disorders
- Inner Child Therapy
And more...
Previous experience as a therapist includes The Blue Door (formerly Grimsby & Scunthorpe Rape Crisis), The Haven Trauma Service at Barnardo's, Grimsby Carers Service and Blackburn College.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
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 HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£45.00 - £70.00
Concessions offered for
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Further information
I offer an initial meeting session for 1 hour at a reduced price of £30, where we can meet each other, discuss your needs and hopes for therapy, so you can decide if we are a good fit. If we continue therapy, number of sessions is open-ended, but we will arrange reviews every few weeks to check in on progress and make any changes you may need
I am available to deliver training, talks and/or workshops to groups upon request. I have previously delivered similar events for Leeds Beckett University, Rainbow Therapy in Scotland, Humberside Police, North East Lincolnshire Council, Blackburn College, Edge Hill University, The Blue Door, Barnardo's and UCEN Manchester.
Previous topics/workshops have included: Trauma-informed practice, Emergency Self-Care Toolkits, Storytelling in Art Therapy, LGBTQIA+ experiences, Working with Neurodivergence, Responding to Survivors of Abuse, Using Art in Higher Education, Power in Therapy with Marginalised Groups, BDSM and Therapy. Other topics are available upon request.
