Valerie Pearson
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Sometimes it takes real courage to admit to ourselves that we need someone to talk to. Maybe a difficult life event, anxiety or depression or an unresolved issue from the past can overwhelm us, and we turn to another person, someone who really listens to us.
As a counsellor, I can offer you the chance to talk in confidence and without judgment. It is quite different to talking with friends and family. Together we can explore whatever is troubling you and help you find your own way through the issues. Counselling is not about offering advice or answers: it is about helping you live your best life.
I offer a safe, warm and welcoming place, away from the distractions of everyday life, somewhere to stop, think and re-assess; somewhere to be yourself. The Quiet Place is all about helping you to know yourself better, and thus be able to cope with whatever challenges come along in life. I work within the Person Centred approach and am an integrative counsellor. This means that my work is client-focused and client-led, and I am able to draw on different modalities, or theories, to best help my clients.
Couples
I work within the Emotionally Focused Therapy framework, for couples looking for real and lasting change in their relationship. Centred around Attachment Science, we look at the pivotal moments in your narrative, making sense of emotions and ordering them. We all have needs and longings; we all yearn for meaningful connection. EFT finds the blocks to empathy and safe engagement with your partner; it contains the moments of disconnect and then helps you form a healing connection, a new direction for your story. At The Quiet Place, your voices will be heard, as we create more secure bonds and develop more trust, creating a healthier and more positive partnership.
Training, qualifications & experience
Understanding the human condition, exploring what makes us the way we are, helping others: these have formed the bedrock of my working life and led to me training initially as a teacher, then as a reflexologist in 2006 and now, having left teaching, a counsellor. I have worked at Olive Branch Counselling in Chippenham and Focus in Frome; in 2021 I founded The Quiet Place in Corsham.
Qualifications
- Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (CPCAB)
- Certificate in Emotionally Focused Therapy (couples)
- BA, MA, PGCE (University of Cambridge)
I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. This means I work to their Ethical Framework for Counselling and Psychotherapy and am fully insured. I have a supervisor, who ensures I am able to offer the best possible counselling. I also keep up to date with developments in my profession and undertake regular CPD.
Member organisations
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
£50.00 - £60.00
Additional information
I would like you to feel confident in your choice of counsellor: I am happy to arrange a call where you can ask any questions you may have about my contract, which explains how I work and how we will manage our sessions.
- Individual 50-minute session: £50
- Individual 50-minute session for trainee counsellors: £35
- Couples 60-minute session: £60
Payment is by BACS prior to the session, or cash
Full fee is payable if less than 24 hours’ notice is given
Call me on 07777 676772 or email me here
Further information
There is usually plenty of parking along Atlantic Way.
