Tanja Baker

People come from all walks of life to me. 
This could be because they are experiencing difficult emotions such as anxiety and panic, grief whether it be of humans or pets,  sadness and depression, or suffering low self-esteem or stress.  I may be able to help and support you on your journey, to better understand your feelings or something you like to understand and make sense of from the past, or perhaps gain a greater sense of wellbeing. Counselling gives you the time and space to be listened to in such a way that it feels safe to explore, and gain understanding about, your feelings and helps you to find meaning. I have a personal interest in spirituality and in nature and eco-therapeutic approaches, which offer great benefits for both physical and emotional health.
I also have a special interest in supporting individuals whose child/young person has had a SEN diagnosis and is not able to attend school. If you are supporting a neurodivergent child/ young person at home, you might experience different feelings, such as anger, sadness and isolation. It helps to talk about it to somebody that is listening to you and really understands what you are going through. 
Perhaps you have been diagnosed with ADHA or Autism later in life, this can be a very difficult time for you. 

One of my clients said this, "Thank you very much for all your gentle support that you offered me throughout our counselling therapy meetings within the local woodlands. Your guidance to explore and question my path in life whilst walking amongst the beautiful trees was much needed and appreciated. You have shown me great understanding, and I have gained vital and fresh perspectives of myself in this world." 

My approach

I work as an integrative counsellor. I work in a creative way with a strong person-centered approach at heart. This means all my clients are listened to and are at the center of the sessions, I see each client as a unique individual. I will walk with you by your side and hold space for you, while you are in charge of your own therapeutic journey. I will give you professional support in finding clarity and self-understanding, sometimes using help through painting, storytelling, clay work, just to name some, I adapt my therapy to suit you, offering different ways of working, but I always take your lead to guide our work.

I work in Private practice; I offer short-term therapy and long-term open-ended therapy. I welcome you into a warm and welcoming Log Cabin in my back garden, but I equally love to offer sessions in nature, walk and talk or talking in nature without walking. I aslo use a room at Nine Springs Natural Health Centre in Yeovil.

I offer sand tray therapy; this is one of the more creative approaches. Sand tray therapy allows a person to construct their own microcosm using miniature toys and objects. One example of a Sand tray is, the scene created acts as a reflection of the person’s own life and allows them the opportunity to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and gain acceptance of self.

I am a member of the Association for person-centred creative arts (APCCA) and Creative Counsellors, I offer Creative Counselling Interventions to help clients to process difficult emotions, beliefs & experiences. Clients could use art as a tool to make sense of things or to gain a deeper inner understanding.

My Background:

I have taught in many different educational settings for over 20 years, with my specialism being, working with SEN students for more than 15 years. I have been tutoring students at home from many different backgrounds, ages and problems that stopped them from attending school. I have helped students to integrate back into mainstream education or into a specialist setting if this is what they wanted. 

Moving from Germany to England 26 years ago, travelling a lot throughout my childhood and younger years, has given me a healthy curiosity about different cultures and people, I can easily relate to people.

What to expect at our first meeting:

At our first introductory meeting, you will have a chance to get to know me, as well as voicing how you are at the moment and what it is you would like to explore. You might be able to express what it is you would like to talk about, or it might just be a feeling or a thought you would like to explore, whatever it is you would like to work on, I will give you the space to talk about it. The meeting will be very informal, but boundaries will have to be set in place to work safe and ethically for both of us. You will be able to ask me questions about how I work. 

I hope that you will feel comfortable and deeply understood by me from the start of our first session. 

Please note that there is no obligation if you decide you do not wish to go ahead.

If you feel you want to go ahead with seeing me again and entering into a contract with me, we will schedule a meeting for the following week. We would look at the Counselling agreement, and we would agree on six weeks of sessions to start off with, after those 6 weeks we would review if you wanted to carry on or if you would like to stop the sessions. 

I offer a reduced £25 fee for the first initial hour; this session is there for you to get to know me and for us to see if we want to work together. 

I have some low cost counselling spaces for people on low or no income.