We offer counselling/psychotherapy to individuals and couples for both long and short-term work.

What is counselling/psychotherapy?

Counselling/Psychotherapy is a process that combines a deep respect for the integrity of every person with effective methods for engaging both conscious and subconscious processes in the achievement of their goals. This process is useful for people who want to focus on clearing the effects of past events and developing new skills in order to move forward into a more fulfilling future. The therapeutic frame enables people to work safely and appropriately on stuck or hurting parts of themselves en route to becoming fully functioning, mentally healthy individuals.

Holly's approach to counselling:

Holly is a Humanistic practitioner with a specialism in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). She is experienced in working with a wide range of issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, work issues, obsessional behaviours, stress, low confidence and health and eating difficulties.

Holly considers the therapeutic relationship to be key to successful therapy and change. She is warm, gentle and considerate in her manner with clients, recognising that people need to feel comfortable and safe before they can be open and trust the therapist. Holly subscribes to the ethical codes of practice of UKCP and NLPtCA. She aims to ensure that all individuals and couples receive the help they are seeking irrespective of their culture, sexual orientation, race, gender, religious worldview or ability.

Ordinary people who are still getting by in life can benefit tremendously from this kind of work – life becomes less of a struggle and more joyous. It can also work wonders for people who feel that they have almost ceased to function effectively in life. The rekindling of hope and the reinvigoration of capability lie at the heart of our approach. Our Humanistic framework underpins our passionate belief that people are always more than they think they are.

Couple therapy

Holly's approach to couple therapy is influenced by Humanistic values and NLP. 'We' as individuals and a couple always have the potential to be more than we are at the moment. Holly works with couples to assist them to spot the habits and attitudes which are stopping them be as happy as they could be and to develop effective strategies to move themselves forwards to the kind of futures they would prefer.

Every couple and their circumstances are unique and a way of working which suits them will be negotiated at the first meeting should the couple and Holly decide they wish to work together. A model which often works well is to alternate meeting Holly as a couple and as individuals. Whether the sessions are joint or individual clearly the focus will be on the couple dynamics.

Couple sessions will usually be for an hour and a half and the individual sessions for an hour.

NLP Couple counselling will provide a couple with a safe, confidential and neutral space where they can explore the story of their relationship and how they experience each other. The couple will be assisted to raise their awareness of how they engage with each other and further improve their communication skills. In addition, new strategies will be explored for responding to each other, thus leading to richer and more fulfilling relationships. Sometimes couple counselling can also provide a forum for couples to honestly re-evaluate what they want and whether they both want to stay together or go their separate ways.

Relationships are a vital aspect of our lives and their quality strongly influences our level of happiness. It is through relationships that we grow and experience intimacy, learn about our own and other's patterns of relating and practise loving. At the heart of this is our humanity and we bring our past, hurts and troubles to significant relationships as well as our wishes, hopes and dreams. Sometimes it is worth investing some of our time, effort and money into some couple counselling in order to nurture and grow this precious part of our lives.

Appointments for individuals are an hour and couple appointments an hour and a half. Fees are competitive and vary according to whether you require individual or couple counselling or supervision. Holly's consulting room is in Neville Road, Bognor Regis, a ten-minute walk from the train station. There is also street parking available. Please contact us for further details.

Supervision

We offer clinical supervision for counsellors and psychotherapists. We also provide supervision for coaches and teams in organisations.

What is supervision?

Supervision provides therapists and coaches with a confidential professional space where they can discuss their cases and methodology. This process monitors their work, thus protecting clients, and it also provides support and further education to practitioners so that they can continue to develop and grow. Supervision benefits teams by clarifying goals, by illuminating differences in perspective and developing collaborative dynamics. It helps professionals to work to the best of their ability and offer the highest quality of support to their clients. Supervision provides support, clarification in difficult cases, assistance in accessing new and creative perspectives on clients, informed ethical guidance, shared exploration of new interventions and a space for us to identify what is working well in our practice.

Holly's approach to supervision:

Holly is a trained and experienced supervisor in both one-to-one and group supervision and she has also been on the NLPtCA UKCP list of recognised supervisors since 2002. Holly is trained integratively in supervision so that she can work with counsellors and individuals from a variety of theoretical backgrounds, respecting diversity and supporting them to become their most effective and professional within their own modality.

She utilises her extensive teaching experience for the educational aspect of supervision.She assists counsellors to connect their experiences with relevant theory and also to learn new skills for working with their clients. Holly has a particularly good understanding of trainee and novice counsellors' supervisory needs owing to her many years of experience as head of counselling programmes at the University of Chichester.

Holly approaches the creative aspect of supervision by using a variety of methods that enable reflective work to take place (discussion, didactic, role play, imagery and the arts). These will be discussed with the counsellor or group so that their own learning style(s) is utilised and they enjoy and gain maximum benefit from the process. Holly recognises the importance of supervisory style to suit a supervisee's own stage of development and learning.

Holly views the relationship aspect of supervision as the key to successful processing because she understands that being open and possibly vulnerable about our client work as practitioners requires a respectful and trusting, warm relationship. She provides a safe and validating space with agreed boundaries through which a counsellor's feelings and thoughts can be explored and by which they are encouraged to identify their own strengths and growing edges.

Supervision is a mandatory requirement for all counsellors and psychotherapists who belong to professional organisations such as UKCP and BACP. There is also a growing recognition of the value of supervision in the relatively new profession of coaching. High calibre, experienced coaches value supervision as it helps them to improve their performance; new coaches need it in order to work at their very best. It is especially valuable for coaches and managers who work in organisations seeking to have more motivated staff, greater co-operation, effective identification of training needs and greater freedom in the flow of information.

What people say about our counselling and supervision services

For people seeking therapeutic help for the first time

How can I tell the difference between a counsellor and psychotherapist? 'Counsellors', 'therapists' and 'psychotherapists' are terms used interchangeably in the UK and they can all be used to describe the same role.

How can I know whether someone is properly trained?

A way for the public to know whether a counsellor is properly trained and experienced is to check whether they are accredited, usually by professional bodies such as the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy (UKCP). For more information on BACP and UKCP go to http://www.bacp.co.uk and http://www.psychotherapy.org.uk.

How do people know what type of counselling to have?

There are different types of counselling training that emphasise varying ways of working with people to help them deal with their issues. See the section above on 'Holly's approach to counselling.'

What should I do if I am not sure about whether counselling will help me?

If you unsure about whether counselling will meet your needs then it is often advisable to make a single appointment to discuss what you want to work on and check out how you experience the counselling process and whether the counsellorcan meet your needs.

Will the counsellor tell other people what I have discussed?

Counsellors will keep confidentiality and hold notes about you in a secure place. This is an important part of being professional and counsellors are trained in managing confidentiality. Private practitioners are only legally required to break confidence on terrorism and drug trafficking. However, sometimes counsellors may break confidence if they feel that you are doing significant harm to another person and where there is a greater responsibility to keep others (maybe children) safe. Counsellors will also discuss aspects of your case with their clinical supervisors, who will also hold the confidence and keep any notes about you in a secure place.

How can I find a counsellor who is professional?

Accredited counsellors are required to belong to a professional organisation such as BACP or UKCP. These organisations require their members to follow an ethical framework or code and have a system of monitoring a practitioner's professional behaviour through annual supervisor's reports. This way, a counsellor's behaviour is regularly checked and if they do not reach the required high standard then they will lose their accredited status and in some cases membership of the organisation.

How can I get immediate help if I am in crisis and/or very distressed?

You may have to wait for an appointment with a counsellor; so if your need is urgent then you may need to seek help elsewhere: