Tim Branson

Covid 19 Statement!  Before Covid, most counsellors were of the opinion that remote therapy over video links like Skype, or FaceTime were less effective, but as we have all adapted to social distancing, in the same way that people have discovered that they can work just as well from home as the office, more and more great work is being done safely over media platforms like FaceTime, Zoom, Watsapp with encrypted (confidential) video calls. Where before, I would perhaps only offer a phone session as a last resort say if you were unable to attend a cancelled session in person, rather than you lose the session fee, we now routinely find phone sessions can be really intense and useful. Hence I offer telephone and video sessions. For those who prefer to work face to face, I have confidential and covid friendly consulting rooms in Southsea where social distancing is easily achievable and every effort is made to seperate clients effectively so hygeine can be maintained. FACE TO FACE ACCESS REDUCED WHILST WE ARE STILL EXERCISING CAUTION, BUT PLEASE CALL TO DISCUSS AS THIS MAY BE MANAGED DIFFERENTLY AS WE PROGRESS. As I cannot maintain this level of care on the Isle of Wight, Island clients can only be accepted remotely at this time.

GDPR PRIVACY NOTICE: Please be aware that should you contact me by email and become a client, I keep your e mails electronically for the duration of our relationship, whereupon they are deleted.  I would keep them longer if our sessions have determined issues of risk or crime.  Sorry to be one of these informed consent - opt in types, but I'll assume you're OK with this if you e-mail me! Please ask if you want more information.  Thank you!!

Now those things are out of the way...

Hello, and thanks for taking time to look at my details. Hopefully you will find a fair bit of general information below, not only about how I work, but what you might need to know before choosing a counsellor to share your concerns with.

I am an NHS experienced Psychological Therapist / Specialist Counsellor / Clinical Supervisor and for ten years worked for the Acute Mental Health Team. I now have a private therapy and Supervision practice in Southsea and Ryde, Isle of Wight.

I have great and varied practice experience and have endeavoured to become as qualified and well practiced as I possibly can as I have an extremely strong ethic toward giving my patients and clients my very best practice, whatever their concerns might be.


So if you are thinking of having counselling for issues like:

• Relationship Issues
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• DISTRESSING INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS
• Family Issues
• Panic

then don't hesitate to call to discuss what it is that is troubling you, and how you might be able to move forward.

So what kinds of therapy are there... what happens?

Counselling helps you to look at problems you are facing now. You might focus on a specific problem, process, decision or crisis for example. I'll help you talk about the difficult feelings you have about yourself and your situation, and identify things that help, and facilitate change. I ask questions that other people don't and I'll help you interpret the answers effectively.

Whilst many counsellors like to work in their own way, actually different approaches suit different people and/or issues in different ways. That is why it is important to choose a therapist who can work in a way tailored to your precise needs.  Because of this an initial ‘assessment’ session is really important. I am happy for you to ‘test drive’ me first - before committing to sessions!

It shouldn’t be difficult to work out what sort of therapy you are being offered.  Ask what experience potential counsellors have with your type of issue.  Look for Accreditation and long years of training!  Most important to your therapy is the strength of the relationship you have with the counsellor.  You should feel safe, mutual trust, equal, empowered and not judged, patronised or feel like you are being told what to do.

A couple of different ways counsellors work:

You may have heard about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. CBT therapists aim to help people change patterns of thinking or behaviour that are causing problems.  Changing how you think and behave also changes how you feel.  It is a structured approach – you agree goals for treatment with your therapist and try things out between sessions. 

EMDR. If you are experiencing trauma, for example like an attack, domestic violence, accident - in it or witnessed it, war zone stuff, traumatic near miss, fire, flood, crash etc., EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) can help.  Google it!

Psychodynamic Therapy explores your experiences and identifies connections between present feelings and actions and past events.  We might make more sense of the ‘cause and effect-ness’ of your past on your present. I integrate these models and more.

I do not work Analytically (where the therapist doesn’t talk much).

Unless working with Couples or Families, sessions are usually one-to-one and last for 50 minutes. 

I do not work with addiction, sorry, though I am happy to recommend a determined and professional clinician with many years of experience in treating substance misuse.

Likewise, whilst I also tend only to work with people over 16 years old,  young people and children can be seen within my practice by my professional PhD colleague who can offer therapy, parent and child counselling, family counselling, parenting skill development and if necessary write court reports and offer advocacy where there are legal proceedings involving custody etc.  Family and couple work is also a specialism, so if you are experiencing family dynamic issues at all, please do get in touch for a professional and appropriate response to your family's needs.

I don’t offer ‘Hypnosis’, sorry.

What sort of thing brings people to counselling?

I have encountered all of these presenting issues and client groups and counselling is an evidence based intervention with proven 'success' in many instances:

Depression   Work Stress   Negative Thinking     Uncertainty   PTSD   Worry   Relationship issues   Phobias     Anxiety     LGBTQ issues     Couples   Violent or disgusting unwanted intrusive thoughts      Family difficulties   Fear     Loss     Low Confidence     Self Esteem     Sexual Problems   Panic disorder   Guilt     Miscarriage   Social Phobia   Workplace  Bullying     Anger       Mental Health       Chronic Fatigue Syndrome       Illness   Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD     Sexuality      PAIN    Health Anxiety  Chronic Diagnoses (Cancer, Diabetes)       Relationships       Breakdown     Affairs     Betrayals     Divorce   Grief     Bereavement       Rape     Abuse (Emotional, Physical, Sexual)     Obsessions     Debt     Stress   Adults     Students     Young People     Problems     Redundancy     Unhappiness     Cultural issues   Sadness Confusion     Self Harm     Suicidal  thoughts     Trauma     Attack    Flashbacks   Pregnancy     Termination     Violence       Domestic Violence     Personality Disorder     Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse     Pet loss     Men's issues     Ageing       RAGE     Crying   Personal Development      Terminal Illness     Unwanted thoughts     Love     Disgust     Isolation    Meaninglessness     Groundlessness     Death, yours, a loved ones, and going to hell!

My specialisms are Anxiety, Depression, OCD and 'difficult' cases, and working with most presenting issues.

I am an associate lecturer in counselling at a local university and facilitate men’s groups for men affected by cancer, and also supervise all level of counselling work including counsellors working in private practice, the NHS, third sector voluntary and GP referred organisations both on the mainland and the Island, Primary Care therapists, NHS Drug & Alcohol counsellors, Psychologists and Community Psychiatric Nurses.