Viv Smith
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
I am an integrative Counsellor/Psychotherapist who can work in a variety of ways depending on my client's needs and preferences.
I work with clients who are or have experienced a wide range of issues including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, eating disorders, childhood sexual abuse or are unsure as to the reason why they feel 'stuck'.
Prior to having therapy myself, I found it difficult to imagine how it could help. I now realise I am not the only person to have such concerns. This prompted me to ask a client for some feedback on our work together:
"A series of traumatic instances in my life left me untrusting, feeling isolated and unsupported, adrift emotionally and looking to a forlorn future.
I started weekly sessions with Viv Smith. She was ever attentive, supportive, questioning, encouraging, and, above all, caring. She treated me with consideration and respect. I knew I wasn’t just a name on a list of clients.
The process is not necessarily easy – there is nothing more debilitating than emotional pain. Looking back, it was enlightening, cleansing and curative. Cathartic in a way.
I persisted because I wanted to learn who I was, why there was part of me that I always hid away from the World and why the later life experiences I had gone through had affected me so badly.
Viv helped me to face up to the effects of my childhood relationship with my mother, and helped me understand myself. I was then able to accept what had happened to me, and to start afresh. I will be forever grateful to her.
My life is again full. I am awash with energy and drive and I am learning to live in the present. The future is bright." BD.
Another client sent this feedback:
" I just wanted to take the time to properly thank you for everything you've done for me since I started seeing you. It was something that I should have done sooner, but it can be so daunting to open yourself up so I avoided it and hoped all my problems would go away on their own. You made me feel so comfortable and at home from our first meeting, and I did truly feel I could share anything with you and feel valued and listened to. I didn't expect counselling to help me as much as it has. You have helped me live more in the moment and to try and worry/obsess less over things that I really cannot control, or that aren't as big or important as I once thought. I am more open about my feelings and will say what is on my mind. I know in myself that I will have to continue to work on all of these things and more to keep my mind content and positive, but I have more faith in myself and optimism about moving forward doing this.
You really have helped me so much and helped me find the old and happier me, and I'm so grateful to you for that. " EL.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (Distinction).
I am a Registered Member of the BACP.
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 per session
Additional information
£50 per session.
When I work
Daytime and evening appointments.
