Rye Counselling and Psychotherapy

ABOUT ME

After degrees in English (Oxford) and theology (London), I worked as a teacher and then for ten years as a priest, before training, first as a couples counsellor and then as a psychotherapist and supervisor at CCPE, London.

For five years I was the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Counsellor at PACE, while also building a private practice in the West End/City and in Putney, South West London.

I work with men and women, individuals and couples, straight and gay, young and old.

In nearly 20 years as a counsellor and psychotherapist, I have helped around 1,000 people and I try never to forget that I have sat in the client’s place myself!

HOW DO I WORK?

Therapy provides a warm and welcoming space in which you can find perspective, understanding, acceptance and healing.

As therapist I offer you compassion and insight to help facilitate growth and change.

Therapy is a collaborative process: I seek to be as honest and authentic as I can be and invite you to be the same.

Therapy could be of great help to you if …

• You are willing to take a fresh look at yourself
• You could consider the possibility that you are partly responsible for the problems in your life
• You feel ready to explore the instincts you have about the need for change.

I also offer Walking Therapy as an alternative to conventional face-to-face work in the consulting room.

I offer counselling and psychotherapy via Skype, once a therapeutic relationship has begun with a face-to-face meeting.

I also have practice in central London, close to St.Paul’s , Blackfriars, in in the City.

COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Counselling is usually short-term (between 1-12 sessions) and typically addresses how to manage problems better. Firstly, we look at what has brought you to seek help.
Secondly, we survey the changes you might want to make. Thirdly, we consider the obstacles and/or levers which will allow you to move from where you are now to where you would prefer to be. Counselling is not about giving advice but about listening and helping you to feel more empowered in dealing with the challenges you are facing in your life.

Psychotherapy is more open-ended (anything from 3 months to 3 years) and addresses, not only the causes of some of the problems you face but also the purpose of them.
Often provoked by some sense of personal crisis, psychotherapy helps you to step back from outdmoded or distorted ways of being, to accept and mourn their loss and to acknowledge and integrate what is emerging in your life, summoning you to change.

SOME ISSUES I WORK WITH

Anxiety and fear
Compulsive behaviour
Creative blocks
Couple counselling
Decision-making and discernment
Depression
Dreamwork
Faith conflicts
Gay and Gender, Relationship and Sexual Diversity issues
Life crises
Loss and bereavement
Low self-confidence & self-esteem
Midlife issues
Relationship issues
Sex & Internet “addiction”
Sexual health
Sexuality
Spirituality
Therapeutic use of photography
Stress
Supervision

You can learn more about how I work, about couples counselling and lgbt counselling on my website.

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

I hold a Certificate in Marital Counselling (1998) from the University College of Ripon and York St. John, Leeds.

I hold a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2001) and a Diploma in Supervsion (2003), each accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), from the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, London, which is a member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

I began working as a couples counsellor in 1995, as an individual counsellor in 1999.
I qualified as a psychotherapist in 2001 and as a supervisor in 2003.

Since then I have worked in private practice, as a relationship counsellor with Marriage Care, for five years as HIV & Sexual Health Counsellor at PACE and as an affiliate counsellor in Employee Assistance Programmes, provided by BUPA, Ceridian Lifeworks and Right Corecare, among others.

I also conduct supervision with individuals and groups.

FEES

Individual therapy: £50 per 50 minute session
Couples counselling: £60 per 50 minute session
Supervision: £50 -70 per 60/120 minute session