What is Counselling?

I am an experienced Counsellor and I offer a confidential and calm environment in which you can feel comfortable and safe to be yourself.  I use a person-centered approach, this approach is based on the belief that we are all individual experts on our true selves.

It follows that each of us has the ability to live our life to our full potential.  The beauty of this approach is that we can adjust the way it works to fit your needs.  I work with adults and young people from the age of 16 years upwards.

Rue is an experienced integrative counsellor working primarily with a person-centred approach to counselling whilst drawing from other theories and approaches to suit the clients needs, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Transactional Analysis (TA).

I have over 12 years' experience of working in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services as a Senior CAMHS Mental Health Specialist with Children and Young People aged between 5 - 18 years, presenting with wide-ranging emotional and behavioural difficulties, including anxiety, low mood, OCD, as well as within specialist eating disorders and family therapy clinics. I have also worked within specialist CAMHS services specialising in Looked After and Adopted Children and Young People mental health. I am also a qualified Child EMDR Therapist.

Dr Carole Francis-Smith is an experienced Counselling Psychologist who has worked in the NHS, charity, and private sectors. She offers tailored therapy support across the age groups from 14 years upwards and is trained in a variety of different therapeutic techniques/approaches such as; Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Person-Centred, Psychodynamic and Compassion Focused Therapy.

It can be difficult opening up to someone; I’ve been there, I understand. As an open, caring and trustworthy male therapist, I am uniquely positioned to give you a safe space to talk, to be seen, heard and understood. I will support you to look beneath the surface and see things you haven’t seen before and help you find a way to move forward.

Hello, my name is Susannah and I am an experienced and qualified psychodynamic counsellor working with adults and older teenagers. I offer counselling to those who may be struggling from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, abuse, trauma/PTSD, low mood, relationship issues, bereavement/loss, OCD and more. I aim to listen with compassion and genuine warmth and no problem is too big or too small. Counselling is a place where you can explore your thoughts and feelings, focus on yourself in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space and feel supported through whatever difficulties you are facing.

My name is Julie.  I am a qualified Integrative Counsellor.  My working style is person-centred combined with drawing on elements of different theories and techniques such as Gestalt, Psychodynamic and psychosynthesis to offer flexibility to best suit your needs. With the key success of counselling being the therapeutic relationship, I use my friendly, warm, open and calm approach to provide a comfortable environment and enhance the therapeutic relationship.

My name is Alex and I am a Dramatherapist who works with young people aged 10-17, and adults over the age of 18. I have experience working with some of the South West’s most prominent support services, including: the NHS CAMHS Crisis Intervention Team, 1625 Independent People, Creative Youth Network, Next Link, The National Autistic Society, Mind, and Off The Record, where I continue to work part-time as a therapist.