Susan Mallinson
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This professional is available for new clients.
About me
As a counsellor I offer care, compassion and the capacity to hold complex thoughts and feelings whilst they are being investigated and untangled; all without negative judgement but with honesty about my understanding of what has been disclosed.
Essentially for therapy to be successful the client needs to be heard properly and supported carefully as they navigate the obstacles that prevent them from being the best version of themselves. Nobody comes to therapy because they want everything to stay the same, but making change is challenging and the timescale for this process is unique to each individual and set of circumstances. I provide the setting for growth to take place.
Opening up about difficult thoughts, feelings and experiences can be scary so initially my role is to create a safe place for exploring the reasons for seeking support. Sometimes feelings have been buried deeply so they seem to be inaccessible and sometimes feelings are overwhelming and unending. Some clients talk non-stop, others struggle to get started.
My hope for every client is that they can make progress and that they can ultimately heal from difficult experiences. I will support anyone who is trying to improve their life and we will focus on how they build their autonomy and resilience. First and foremost the client is in charge of the pace and content of the sessions; I am responsible for reflecting back their thoughts and feelings in a way that adds clarity to the discussion.
I can provide short-term interventions or long-term support so there are no rules about how many sessions are "normal" - the important thing is for the client to decide what is right for them and to feel that this is being honoured by me.
Training, qualifications & experience
My training was in the person-centred approach but over the past ten years I have adapted to the needs of my clients and the services within which I have been employed, so, I also add solution-focussed questions to my techniques and include elements of other modalities in order to broaden the scope of the 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
£55.00 per session
Additional information
The rate quoted is for face to face sessions in a therapy centre. There is a small discount for remote sessions.
Further information
The first session is normally a half hour telephone conversation for which there is no charge. In this session I will establish the initial reasons for seeking counselling and also I will find out the client's hopes for the sessions. There will be some safeguarding questions in order to establish the risk to life of the client and others and there will be some boundaries established around alcohol and drug use. But mostly this session is a chance for the client to gauge whether they feel comfortable talking to me so that by the end of the call we should know whether I could be a good match for them.
Email me via the contact form.
