Counselling in Wiltshire
Also Offering Telephone Sessions.
Fees from £25 to £75 per session.
"May the golden thread of humanity connect all so that love and healing can be"
Hello, my name is Andy and thank you for taking time to look at my website. I work as a counsellor primarily offering face to face appointments in Corsham.
The image above of many people walking in a crowded street holds many different stories of humanity. It could be Bath, Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham or Trowbridge. It could be anywhere. It may be that some people feel part of a community with a sense of belonging. Yet some people may feel alone or even lost when surrounded by others.
For some people, therapy can offer a space, some time and a place away from the crowd to talk through any worries or fears or explore what they may need. Counselling can offer an opportunity to be heard and listened to without judgement.
Reaching out and seeking support can feel daunting particularly if you don't know what to expect. Taking the first step in finding some help may be the beginning of a new and healing journey. It may also help you find a different way to relate to yourself and others, and to find a different way of being in this world.
As part of my training to become a counsellor, I recall my own journey when initially seeking personal therapy and how hard it was to trust someone and tell them my story. From exploring some of my conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings, I was able to integrate my sense of self and experienced personal growth.
People tend to seek counselling when something about their life needs to be more understood. This could be intrusive or repetitive negative thoughts about self and other. Reasons for seeking counselling might be about certain behaviours and beliefs that seem to be getting in the way of how someone wants to live their life. Some people may feel confused about traumatic events in their life or confused about certain challenges. It may be that such feelings as anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, hate or sadness are present, and the reasons may not be fully known or understood. Sometimes, people may have lived for years, even decades grappling with, coping, surviving and getting-on with life whilst such negative thoughts, behaviours, beliefs and feelings impact on the meaning and quality of daily life.
Attending and being-in counselling can be hard. It can take time and energy to understand what has happened and find self-awareness. Counselling will not take away or change what has happened. Counselling can be about taking time for yourself, perhaps for the first time in a long time or even the first time ever to find some new perspectives on your life.
Counselling is about reaching out and perhaps grappling with some unknown, something unconsciously held within, a new discovery about yourself and perhaps finding a new curiosity about your life.
As a qualified Humanistic and Integrative counsellor, if you choose to work with me I will value your uniqueness, listen to you and witness your story. Through counselling, you can find the way through the challenges you are currently facing by talking openly within a safe and confidential space.
Face to Face Counselling:
My Face to Face sessions currently take place in wonderful practice rooms in Corsham, which is within easy reach of surrounding areas including Bath, Melksham, Chippenham, Trowbridge.
Telephone Counselling
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays I offer Face to Face counselling and on Mondays I offer Telephone counselling and some Face to Face counselling.
Although some people prefer Face to Face sessions, others choose to work via telephone.
Telephone counselling enables people from outside the Chippenham, Trowbridge, Corsham, Melksham and Bath areas to be able to access counselling with me without needing to travel long distances.
Scale of charges for Counselling Sessions:
People are currently facing lots of financial pressures due to the cost of living crisis.
For this reason, as a counsellor I have decided to offer a scale of charges and my hope is that this will enable people to continue to access support during these difficult and uncertain times.
My scale of charges ranges from £25 to £75 per session depending on individual financial circumstances.
From my counselling income, I donate to Refuge UK, the Samaritans and Young Minds.
Next Steps
What should I do next if I’m interested in having counselling?
As you are looking at my website, I am guessing you are wondering if counselling is something that will help. You might be curious and searching a potential counsellor for you. You may have had counselling previously or you may have never experienced being in a therapeutic relationship before. Reaching out to someone you don’t know and taking the next step and arranging an Initial Phone Call can feel daunting. Choosing the right counsellor for you can feel hard and even confusing. Well, I have been there and know what this can feel like, searching online looking at the many different faces of counsellors offering services.
When I needed to find a counsellor either for personal therapy or therapy as part of my professional training to become a qualified counsellor, it took a bit of time but to help me make my decision, I considered questions such as:
1) What experience does the counsellor have?
2) Is the counsellor qualified?
3) How does this counsellor work?
4) Are they a member of a professional organisation like BACP?
5) How much does each session cost, and can I afford it?
6) Where is the counsellor geographically located? (Important if you want face to face).
7) Do I feel ready to challenge my defensive behaviours?
8) Do I feel ready to explore my difficult lived experiences?
9) Do I have the time to regularly attend sessions?
10) Is it the right time (emotionally) for me to start counselling?
The above list of questions were some things I considered and yours might be similar or different, but I offer them simply as a guide that might help you think about what is important to you.
If you decide to contact me and we arrange an Initial Phone Call, these questions are explored as part of this, and you may have your own questions to explore as well.
Once I had chosen my therapist, and we agreed we could work together, the counselling contract supported our working alliance and offered a framework for the therapeutic relationship. As time went on, during my sessions, I learnt to trust the therapeutic process. Between my sessions, I used a journal to reflect on my self-enquiry, personal growth, and new insights about the way I had lived my life and reacted to my lived experiences, and importantly (for me as a survivor) how and what I wanted to change about my present and future life. Overall, I was in therapy for several years and this was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
As a qualified Humanistic and Integrative Counsellor, I often get asked things like, ‘Will counselling take away all my problems?’ or ‘Will counselling heal me or and make everything better?’ or ‘Will counselling ‘fix’ me?’ Although I earn my livelihood as a counsellor, my answer to such questions is that no promises can be made about how effective counselling can be; there is not a simple equation to be made from what can emerge when someone trusts the therapeutic process.
In essence, what I have learnt from working with many clients, and from my own personal therapy is that there are no easy fixes or easy solutions to the complexity of being human. Moreover, I have experienced how clients find new self-awareness and different ways of being and relating with self and others.
Another aspect to being in counselling is that things emerge from being in a deeper relationship with your-self, which often offers glimpses of the potential life-long personal enquiry all human beings may connect with.
Next Step - Do you want an Initial Phone Call?
If you are interested in working with me as your counsellor, then email me on the link provided and I will offer a couple of dates/times for an Initial Phone Call. If you only have specific days/times when you can attend counselling, then let me know this in your email and I will clarify whether our availability will work.
An Initial Phone Call will last up to 50 minutes.
There is a charge of £25 for each Initial Phone Call, which needs to be paid in advance, and is non-refundable.
On occasion, more than one Initial Phone Call may be needed to establish whether we can work together and whether counselling is what you want at this time.
If we agree to work together, then as part of the Initial Phone Call we will arrange the start date and time for your counselling.
Please note: after I have received your referral email, I will respond by email to you offering a date and time for an Initial Phone Call but please be aware my reply email, at times, can take up to 2 weeks and this is due to the high demand for counselling.
