Vanessa Francoise FdA BA (Hons) MBACP
Email meAbout me
I’m professional, warm, honest, gentle and compassionate, and I'll always keep you safe by ensuring that we work at a pace that you feel comfortable with.
I'll tailor my approach to suit you, giving you the best opportunity to achieve the results you want. Your issue may contribute to, or be the result or difficult personal or life challenges. Or maybe you simply don't know why you feel the way you do, but you're struggling and need some help.
I'm based at Baring House, just a 10-minute walk from Exeter High Street and Central Station, with ample free parking, a comfortable waiting room, and toilets. My therapy room is quiet, private, spacious and elegant (there is a very clear map and full directions on the CONTACT ME page of my website, just follow the link above).
I offer an initial free telephone conversation, giving you as much time and space as you need to consider whether you’d like to come and meet me. Then, during your first session, I’ll listen to your concerns and we'll explore together what a good therapy outcome will be for you, how to achieve that, and how many sessions will work best for you. There's lots more information on the HOW DOES IT WORK? page of my website and I post daily on Facebook too (just follow the link above).
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a Certificate in Counselling from the Iron Mill College and a Foundation Degree and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Integrative Counselling from the University of Worcester.
I have attended additional training for Personality Disorders, Understanding Addiction, Dissociation and DID, and Mental Health First Aid.
I have done specialist voluntary work for Mind in Taunton and I currently work in private practice in Exeter, Devon, online via Skype, and I'm available for home visits.
Member organisations
Accredited register membership
Areas of counselling I deal with
- Abortion
- Abuse
- Addiction(s)
- ADHD
- Affairs and betrayals
- Alcoholism
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Anxiety
- Asperger's syndrome
- Attachment disorder
- Autism
- Avoidant personality disorder
- Bereavement
- Bipolar disorder
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Bullying
- Cancer
- Career counselling
- Carer support
- Chronic fatigue syndrome/ME
- Dependent personality disorder
- Depression
- Disabilities
- Discrimination
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Drug addiction
- Emotional abuse
- Family issues
- Feeling sad
- Gambling
- Gender dysphoria
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Health anxiety
- Hearing voices
- Histrionic personality disorder
- Hoarding
- Infertility
- Internet addiction
- Learning difficulties
- Loneliness
- Low self-confidence
- Low self-esteem
- Miscarriage
- Narcissistic personality disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
- Panic disorder
- Paranoia
- Paranoid personality disorder
- Passive aggressive behaviour
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Physical abuse
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Postnatal depression
- Psychosis
- Redundancy
- Relationship problems
- Schizoid personality disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizotypal personality disorder
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Separation and divorce
- Sex addiction
- Sexual abuse
- Sexuality
- Smoking
- Stress
- Suicidal thoughts
- Trauma
- Work-related stress
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
I offer an initial free telephone conversation, giving you as much time and space as you need to consider whether you’d like to come and meet me. Then, my fee for a single 1 hour session is £70 (payable by cash, cheque, debit/credit card or bank transfer). But most of my clients choose to go for my discounted option at the end of their first session, block booking and paying for 6 sessions for £360 (equates to £60 per session). Price for home visits by individual agreement.
Published articles
Further information
My academic study, work, family and personal experiences have brought me to a deep understanding of the causes of psychological distress and a strong desire to help people who suffer from it, in whatever form. When I first began training as a counsellor, I read a poem called “Be with me, please”. It inspired me to write this reply which sums up how I feel about being a counsellor:
RIGHT HERE WITH YOU
You can trust me with your pain
To treat it with kindness and respect
To listen to it
So you can speak the unspoken
I will help you catch the tears
As the floodgates open
Swim with you into the unknown
Save you from drowning in your sorrow
If you entrust me with your grief
I will help you take care of it
Console it, soothe it, make it feel safe
I will accept it as a gift to be protected
If you take the risk and end the drought
I will not leave you alone and sodden after the storm
I will not reach for my umbrella
I will not walk away
I feel your need and I do not fear it
I will help you to understand
I am honoured to be with you
You are no longer walking alone
Maps & Directions
Exeter, EX1 1TL
Type of session
| Online counselling: | Yes |
| Telephone counselling: | No |
| Face to face counselling: | Yes |
| Home visits: | No |
Practical details
| Sign language: | No |
| Other languages: | None |
Accessibility
| Wheelchair access: | No |
Availability
Weekend and evening sessions available both face to face and online via Skype.
Types of client
| Adults |
| Older adults |
