Vanessa Christie
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Whatever may be troubling you, I welcome you to get in touch, to see how I can help you. I have particular experience of working with relationship and family issues and can help with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
I have worked as a psychotherapist within an NHS service and I have experience of providing long term counselling to medical professionals. I have years of experience in the university sector.
Alongside my private practice, I work as a counsellor for students at a leading drama school.
My focus is on creating a warm, non-judgemental and supportive space, where we can think about how you are experiencing your current situation and what might be the best way for you to get to where you would like to be.
While we can not change painful past experiences, we can work together to better understand how we are experiencing the present. The process of being listened to, heard and understood can bring great relief to emotional distress. We can then work collaboratively to navigate and make sense of complex feelings, helping you identify ways to make positive changes to your life. This might include thinking about practical coping strategies available to you, mindfulness techniques and incorporating aspects of CBT.
I believe that my own lived experience and diverse heritage can help inform my therapeutic work, especially around issues around cultural identity and difference. I have experience of living in different countries and of adapting to different cultures and languages which allows me to hold a shared awareness of some challenges.
Training, qualifications & experience
- I am accredited by the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP). These professional bodies have strict codes of ethics and practice, including confidentiality, to which I abide.
- I have completed a five year postgraduate academic and clinical training in psychotherapy and counselling and hold a Masters in psychotherapy and counselling (with Distinction) from Regent's University, London.
- I am committed to my continuing professional development and have undertaken a variety of additional trainings including coaching, bereavement and working with trauma.
- Before my career as a psychotherapist, I worked as a lawyer. As such, I am aware of the personal and professional pressures that individuals can face in modern day working life.
- I have extensive experience of supporting those working within the creative arts.
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 UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
- Loss of a parent (including losing a parent in childhood and anticipatory grief)
- Academic pressure (including navigating university challenges and taking time out from studies)
- Relationship issues (including siblings, flatmates, friends, colleagues, ex partners).
- Culture, identity, race, ethnicity.
- Working within the creative arts
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
I hold a limited number of reduced fee spaces. Please feel free to enquire about current availability.
When I work
I work on weekdays, including early mornings and evenings.
Further information on how I work can be found on www.vchristietherapy.com
Further information
I provide both long term, weekly psychotherapy as well as short-term, more focused counselling (up to 12 weeks), both in person or online, depending on what feels right for you.
My consulting room is within close walking distance of both Sloane Square and Victoria tube stations.
I welcome you to contact me by email for an initial enquiry. Communications are confidential and I will aim to respond within 24 hours.
I am used to guiding people through the initial steps of counselling and I offer an initial 10 minute phone call for us to discuss what help you are looking for.
We may then decide to proceed with an initial 50 minute session (charged at a standard rate), where we can start to develop an assessment of what is going on for you and how we might work together. The therapeutic relationship is central to therapy, so it also gives us a chance to see if we are a good fit.
If we decide to work together, we would then normally agree to meet at the same time each week. We would review the therapeutic progress regularly.
