Somerset Counselling

 

Professional Positions

 

 

  

 

It is often useful to know something about the counsellor you are thinking of working with.

 

My counselling qualifications were gained at the University of Bristol.  Counselling training never really ends as there is always more to develop and understand so I am now continuing my studies researching for a doctorate (PhD) researching how people react to being challenged; a fundamental issue in counselling and life.  Professionally I am a recognised authority on working with negative behaviours and am a member of the executive committee for BACP’s workplace division. 

 

I used to work in the ‘real world’ before becoming a counsellor so I am aware of the pressures of trying to find a good balance between work and home. It was with my last role that I decided that how people develop and behave was a was fascinating topic.  I initially trained as an hypnotherapist and worked in this field while I trained as a counsellor; not too dissimilar to how Freud started!

 

Like Freud, I realised that while hypnotherapy is useful it is not the answer to everything and deeper work is necessary for many issues to have a long lasting change.  That is where my similarity with Freud ends however. I do not work in a style which he would necessarily agree with; I work in a style which emphasises collaboration with my clients not one which places me in a position of making people change!

 

Whilst I am a counsellor I am also a researcher.  I think all counsellors are, or rather should be. We should always be looking to understand how we can work better with our clients.  This should not just be in respect of academic pursuits but also personal development. (Click here to access an essay I wrote about being a counsellor and researcher.)

 

What counts is that we work together to achieve the solutions that you desire in my practices in Wells (BA5) and Shepton Mallet (BA4).

 

 

My approach to counselling is simple; it can be summed up in the triangle below. 

 

It reflects my counselling training which was targeted towards working with people in organisations, therefore, the focus was on short term work.  The aim is to identify the problem and help the individual to resolve whatever issues are at the heart of it. 

 

The focus of the approach is what would be described technically as "person centred", although I would describe it as "person centred plus".  This is because I do not necessarily think that the individual is not just aiming for what is described as "self actualisation" but rather working towards reintegrating fully into relationships with others as well as themselves.  This is seen as a communitarian approach rather than individualistic.

 

 

For what happens in a counselling session please see the FAQs page.