Therapy and Supervision

Therapy and Supervision

Supervision

I currently supervise individual therapists working for Women's Aid and in family support centres, childrens centres and schools in both talking therapies and non-verbal approaches.

Understanding educational systems and therapy, I offer supervision to therapists and counsellors working in educational settings, this includes supervision for:

individuals
groups
whole systems

Play Therapy

I supervise play therapists working in educational and early years settings, including family support. As an approved supervisor of play therapists, I work within the Play Therapy UK (PTUK) Code of Ethics.

Costs for Therapy and Supervision

Costs are based on an hourly rate for both therapy and supervision (Counselling hour is 50 minutes)

Organizations £60 - £70
Private Individuals £60
Couples £60
Students £50
People with concessions £50

I hold some free spaces for voluntary organizations

What is supervision?

Clinical supervision is an essential part of working therapeutically with clients whether adults or children. The purpose of clinical supervision is for the supervisor to help the supervisee become more effective in helping other people. The role of a Clinical Supervisor is to provide support and advice regarding issues that arise during the therapist's clinical work. These may be matters of therapeutic techniques, therapeutic relationships, difficult problems, ethical decisions or issues that impact personally upon the therapist caused by the therapeutic process. Supervision has two main functions; it should be educative and supportive.

Education

To provide a regular space for the supervisee to reflect upon the content and process of the work
To develop understanding and skills within the work.
To help relate theory to practice
To enable the supervisee to apply their approach appropriately
To have an opportunity to think and develop ideas

Support

To be validated both as a person and a therapist
To plan and utilize the personal and professional resources of the supervisee
To give constructive positive and critical feedback
To offer a space to reflect and clarify what is evoked by the work and explore our reactions to this experience
Ensure that the work is done in such a way that the supervisor can be accountable for the monitoring and quality of the work

It is important to form a clear contract for every supervisory relationship, stating the length of contract, responsibilities and fees.

Dance Movement for health and well-being

An innovative approach to non-stylised movement moving in the studio or outdoors, combining a love of both dance movement and being outdoors in nature.

This therapeutic approach to achieving a better sense of health and well-being gives the participant an opportunity to re-connect with the joy, strength, ease and simplicity that our moving being offers us. Starting from the structure of the body simple movement activities are experienced as a springboard to move into motion tweaking vitality and heightening awareness. This approach to the body in motion, where there are no steps to learn, is built on accepting the way each individual naturally moves where ever they are on the continuum of physical ability. Fostering an embodied sense of self and of presence, this dance movement experience works well for both professional and personal development.

The underlying principles of my therapeutic work

Understand that clients will not trust

Trust has to be earned and once broken it’s very difficult to get back. For people suffering the long term effects of any kind of abuse, trust was broken a long long time ago. That means they don’t trust me - why should they? I expect them to test me. I will be trustworthy but don't expect clients to trust me completely. Ever.

Let clients tell their story

I will let clients tell their story in their own way, on their own terms and in their own tempo. I may not have a need to hear it, but the client may have a need to tell. So I will sit there and listen to it.

Accept that clients did the best they could at the time

I’m sure my clients could have thought of several better ways of dealing with abuse and the subsequent situations with the wisdom of hindsight. At the time the client made the best of the situation. They did the best they could to survive and succeeded. I will honour that.

Don’t treat a client like a statistic

My client is a person, with their own characteristics, their own needs and wants. They have their own history and their own way of dealing with what happened to them.

Don’t judge

My client is neither good nor bad. My client is who he or she is, with all the good and bad that is inherent in any human being. They are who they are and that is all they can be at this point.

Don’t think you know better than the client

All I know is what my client chooses to tell me about themselves and that’s always just a small part of who they are. I'll remember that I'm just the ‘hired help.

Don’t think you know what the client should do

I don’t know. My cliënts are the experts on their own lives. They may be lost and confused, but they still know a lot more than I do about how to survive their trauma.

Don’t burden clients with your expectations

My client has enough to contend with, just dealing with their own expectations on a daily basis.

Listen to your clients' feelings

I don’t just listen to the words,I listen to the feelings as well and accept them all. If I can’t accept my clients' feelings, I'll never know how my client is ever going to learn how to deal with them.

Don’t rescue clients

My clients can rescue themselves. They have done so for a long time.

Therapy

Many people including children need support in emotional literacy. Others have behaviour or mental health problems at some stage in their lives that prevents them from fulfilling their full potential.

I work with children and adults in a variety of therapeutic ways depending on need. This might include working with:

whole systems
groups
families
couples
individuals

My counselling approach

I provide a calm and supportive environment that is confidential and private. I have a positive, constructive approach to counselling and work both long and short term.

I offer a one-to-one, face-to-face counselling for adults. Sessions are 50 minutes long and can run from six sessions to six months or more. Clients are not restricted to a set number of sessions and I hold regular reviews to assess progress.

I am a trained as an integrative, person-centered

therapist and work within the BACP Code of Ethics, focusing on self-development in the

'here and now'. I practice a form of 'integrative'

therapy which means I draw on and blend specific types of therapies. My approach is not linked to one particular type of therapy because as a practitioner I do not believe that only one approach works for each client in all situations.

At times I work in an 'eclectic' way, taking elements of several different models and combining them depending on what suits each individual client best.

I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (www.bacp.co.uk) which means that I have completed a formal qualification, work to specific standards following ethical guidelines. I also mean that my practice is supervised by another qualified counsellor whom I meet with once a month.

Qualifications in Counselling

MSc in Counselling, University of Bristol

Post-Graduate Diploma in Counselling, University of Bristol

Narrative Therapy (Level 1)

BACP membership

Therapies I use

Humanistic Therapies

The therapies I focus on self-development, growth and responsibilities. They seek to help individuals recognize their strengths, creativity and choice in the 'here and now'.

Person-centered Counselling

Also known as 'Client-Centred' or 'Rogerian' counselling

Person-centered Counselling focuses on an individual's self-worth and values. Being valued as a person, without being judged, can help an individual to accept who they are, and reconnect with themselves.

Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Therapy can be roughly translated to 'whole' and focuses on the whole of an individual's experience, including their thoughts, feelings and actions. Gaining self-awareness in the 'here and now' is a key aspect of Gestalt Therapy.

Transactional Analysis

Transactional Analysis is based on the theory that we each have three ego states: Parent, Adult and Child. By recognizing ego-states, Transactional Analysis attempts to identify how individuals communicate, and how this can be changed.

Transpersonal Psychology and Psychosynthesis

Transpersonal Psychology means "beyond the personal" and seeks to discover the person who transcends an individual's body, age, appearance, culture, etc. Psychosynthesis aims to discover a higher, spiritual level of consciousness.

Existential Therapy

Existential Therapy focuses on exploring the meaning of certain issues through a philosophical perspective, instead of a technique-based approach.

Family/Systemic Therapy

Family Therapy, also known as Systemic Therapy, is an approach that works with families and those in close relationships, regardless of whether they are blood-related or not, to foster change. Changes are viewed in terms of the systems of interaction between each person in the family.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy or Art Psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art materials such as paints, clay and paper. These tools are used to communicate issues, emotions and feelings and can provide an insight into any conflicts that may be present.

Dance Movement Therapy

My work is based on the belief that all people have the potential for growth, change and movement in a positive direction in their lives. I believe too that people know within themselves how best to do this and what they need from a therapist to be empowered to make the necessary changes if they are given the right support to reach it.

Storytelling

Every culture, every people, everyone has a story to tell. Storytelling is recognized as an essential modality in the healing arts. Its applications range from counselling and family therapy, stress relief and trauma and loss work in personal and professional development. I use it in both my therapy and training to empower people to develop skills such as hearing and reflecting back and being able to communicate therapeutic choices in the form of a story. This modality works particularly well for young children. Caregivers are particularly attentive to the passionate storyteller

I use an eclectic approach to my therapy and counselling depending on what suits the client best, including:

Talking therapy
Non-verbal communication
Dance/movement therapy
Creative writing
Variety of creative artwork approaches

I work with children and adults experiencing a variety of personal difficulties:

Complex trauma and abuse
Loss
Attachment
Relationships
Family difficulties
Self - esteem
Confidence
Hidden disabilities
Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA)
Work-related difficulties
Childhood sexual abuse
Rape

This therapeutic approach is also for anyone:

Not realizing their full potential - academically, or socially
Has nightmares or has disturbed sleep
Is at risk of being/is excluded from their environment
Has suffered trauma?
Has suffered emotional, physical or sexual abuse
Is (or in the process of being) adopted or fostered
Suffers because of separation or divorce
Suffers from anxiety, stress or phobias
Has suffered a loss or bereavement of any kind
Is withdrawn or continually unhappy
Is ill or disabled
Finds it difficult to make friends?
Quarrels frequently with peers or siblings
Bullies others or is bullied themselves
Displays inappropriate behaviour
Doesn’t play

We all need to know how to play and how to find joy in life and some of the therapies you will find here might be a good way for you to start.