(c) Dean Richardson, iCounsellor.co.uk

Date: Saturday 6th November, 2010 (1 day).
Trainer: Sue Esau.
Cost: £45/£35
Location: Chichester Counselling Services.

Chichester Counselling Services will be running a workshop: “1001 Interventions” on November 6th, 2010. This experiential workshop is open to all qualified counsellors – whether or not you work with couples – who are interested in practising reflexive thought when preparing an intervention for a couple in counselling.

For details & booking information see:
http://www.ccs-counselling.com/2010/07/20/couples-counselling-workshop-1001-interventions-saturday-6-november-2010/

Note – although this workshop is aimed toward qualified couples counsellors, counsellors who are familiar with psychodynamic and systemic couples therapy and/or who are considering training as a couples counsellor with Chichester Counselling Services may find this workshop of particular professional interest.

(c) Mark Whale, Flickr

Thinking of seeking Counselling training near Portsmouth?

Introduction.

Chichester Counselling Services are running their highly successful training course in psychotherapeutic counselling – commencing September 2010.

Thinking about training to be a counsellor – interested in continued professional development? Make contact with Chichester Counselling Services today.

Background to Counselling at Chichester.

Chichester Counselling Services established their counselling services over thirty years ago and their training establishment educates potential counsellors in the skills of counselling (year one – certificate level) before inviting suitable candidates to enter the second and third years (Diploma level) to begin practising therapy with real clients.

Candidates are interviewed prior to starting the first year (certificate in counselling skills) which helps students to enhance their people & relationship skills learning about the psychodynamic model of counselling … and later may enter the Diploma training (a further two years) to be able to practice as a counsellor..

Counselling students do not see clients during the first year of training, and you will be required to enter weekly psychodynamic counselling yourself as part of the training. The course is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, assuring students of the quality of this training course.

Benefits of training at Chichester Counselling Services:

• Students are trained in house, and when ready to see clients the clients are provided by CCS itself (you don’t need to find your own placement with another counselling agency).
• Supervision is provided in house – you don’t need to find your own supervision.
• Training is on a Friday late afternoon – which will fit in with many people’s work life.
• The first year is 30 weeks of training on counselling skills and psychodynamic theory.
• After qualification, students can remain practising at CCS for support at a now a familiar counselling establishment.

Arrange your interview at Chichester Counselling Services.

If you are interested in investing in your future to work professionally as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, make contact with Chichester Counselling Services today

http://www.ccs-counselling.com/training/

Counselling Training in Chichester

Introduction.

Chichester Counselling Services will be running again their highly successful training course in psychotherapeutic counselling – September 2010.

Thinking about training to be a counsellor – interested in continued professional development?  Make contact with Chichester Counselling Services today.

Background to Counselling at Chichester.

Chichester Counselling Services established their counselling services over thirty years ago and their training establishment educates potential counsellors in the skills of counselling (year one – certificate level) before inviting suitable candidates to enter the second and third years (Diploma level) to begin practising therapy with real clients.

Commencing in September 2010, candidates are interviewed prior to starting the first year (certificate in counselling skills) which helps students to enhance their people & relationship skills, or later to enter the Diploma training (a further two years).

Counselling students do not see clients during the first year of training, and you will be required to enter weekly psychodynamic counselling yourself as part of the training.  The course is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, assuring students of the quality of this training course.

Benefits of training at Chichester Counselling Services:

• Students are trained in house, and when ready to see clients the clients are provided by CCS itself (you don’t need to find a placement).
• Supervision is provided in house – you don’t need to find your own supervision.
• Training is on a Friday late afternoon – which will fit in with many people’s work life.
• The first year is 30 weeks of training on counselling skills and psychodynamic theory.
• After qualification, students can remain practising at CCS for support at a now a familiar counselling establishment.

Arrange your interview at Chichester Counselling Services.

If you are interested in investing in your future to work professionally as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, make contact with Chichester Counselling Services today

http://www.ccs-counselling.com/training/

(c) Koshyk, Flickr

Depression is not always – and not just – about feeling sad. Depression can appear in many different forms.

For example, depression can leave you noticing that your behaviour has changed from how you usually lead your life. Perhaps just as surprising might be when when friends and family tell you that you are depressed, and yet you feel that you didn’t notice this yourself.

And there is the more recognisable forms of depression – feeling melancholy, sad, down, tearful, unable to get out of bed, feeling low and not being able to get on with your day.

Counselling may be helpful toward forms depression that are mental roots (eg through the loss of a love done and other life events) as opposed to more physical roots of depression that are managed and treated by your GP doctor.

Effecting one in three people at some time in their lives, depression is nothing to be ashamed or annoyed about.  Many sufferers feel that they are in a dark pit, become estranged from their family and friends, and some see no way forward or out of their state.  An experienced counsellor, such as Dean, will listen to your story, will listen to what’s going on in your depression and can assist you in in making helpful connections as to what’s going on.

Psychodynamic counselling helps to develop insight into your depression, and can reveal unconscious factors and conflicts that contribute to depressive symptoms.  The therapist can help gently reveal a client’s denial and oblivion toward their causes of depression.   Sometimes, it’s just the relationship between the depression suffer and counsellor that makes a world of difference in just a few sessions.

When depression lifts – it can feel like the sun just came out after a raining day.

Dean offers counselling in both Portsmouth and Chichester locations – make an appointment today.

(c) Wen-Yan King, Flickr

If you are a in a relationship – regardless of either of your sexualities – and you are having relationship problems after an HIV test gave a positive result then contact me, Dean Richardson, today to arranging a no-obligation initial session to see if couples counselling could be suitable for both of you. My contact details are here, or you can click here to send me a secure email .

Counselling following an HIV Diagnosis.

It has not been unusual for a couple – gay, lesbian or straight – to come to see Dean Richardson for couples counselling after one (or both) have been diagnosed as HIV positive.

• Sometimes the couple therapy is about the shock of receiving a positive diagnosis.
• Sometimes the counselling is about trust issues raised by one partner being diagnosed.
• Sometimes the diagnosis is cathartic in releasing other matters that have been put off – but now need someone to help the couple discuss.

Whatever the core reasons of seeking couples counselling, Dean is a qualified and experienced couples counsellor who works with couples that have received a positive HIV diagnosis (amongst many other couple relationship reasons for counselling).  His couples counselling service can help a couple negotiate their way through difficult problems resulting from HIV diagnoses.

The GU clinic may give you and your partner support after an HIV positive diagnosis, but longer term therapy is available privately through meeting with Dean.

What to do next.

You don’t need to be referred to Dean via your local GUM clinic, nor your doctor.  Initiating private counselling is totally up to you and can be arranged as soon as you make contact with Dean.  It is a confidential service that can compliment the medical treatment that you will continue to receive through your GUM clinic and/or your doctor.

Click to contact me for more information or to make an appointment.

(c) John Althouse Cohen, Flickr

Support for Student Counselling (Portsmouth & Chichester).

Dean works with student counsellors who are seeking counselling to support them during their training.

If you are a student whose course requires they seek their own counselling, the following criteria might help you decide if Dean might be a suitable counsellor for your needs:

• He is a BACP accredited counsellor of over ten years’ experience.
• He works psychodynamically with individuals
• He adheres to the BACP Ethical Framework (see Ethical Framework).
• He seeks and attends the BACP required minimum of 30 annual hours CPD.
• He receives regular supervision appropriate for his workload.
• His negotiable fees structure caters for a sliding scale – although places are limited (see “Fees”).

Some training – particularly psychodynamic counselling – requires the student to be in therapy for the whole time that the student is training.  This is essential as the student counsellor is required to use their self-awareness to assist in the client’s therapy.

Some training requires a set number of hours (decided by the training institution) to be achieved by the end of each training year.

I will negotiate with you your needs for your counselling support during your training, and in our assessment we can decide if working with me may (or may not) be suitable for you whilst training as a counselling student.

(c) banoootah_qtr, Flickr

Couples Counselling.

Couples counselling can help with:-

• Sexual difficulties,
• Communication / misunderstandings / assumptions / accusations,
• Affairs,
• Heading towards a relationship breakup,
• Present life events (eg children – including first babies & teenagers, retirement, job loss/change),
• Medical diagnoses (eg HIV+, sexually transmitted infections, cancer etc).
• Impact of employment/unemployment,
• Ageing parents,
• Domestic abuse / violence,
• Separation/divorce,
• Step families & step children,
• Impact of childhood events,
• Illness,
• Bereavement

What’s on offer from the couples counsellor?

Considering couples counsellors who are systemically & psychodynamically trained, the couples counsellor does not attempt to “fix” the relationship for you nor offer instructions, that if the couple follow, will find that their problems go away.  This realisation can (initially) be a big disappointment for a couple who feel that they have exhausted all possibilities themselves and who are seeking professional help to “cure” them.

However, the couples counsellor does take on a role of being curious towards the relationship, learning about how the relationship came together, each partner’s individual history, the history of the relationship, asking about how things work in the relationship, challenging assumptions made by partners about the other partner, asking questions that address the functioning of the relationship and making (and encouraging from the couple) tentative hypotheses about how the relationship has come to function in the way that it does (the relationship’s “system”).

The intention of learning about the relationship system is to be able to challenge some of the couple’s perspective about their relationship, affording the couple newer opportunities to make alterations for themselves and helping them to communicate more successfully than previously.  By peturbing the relationship system, the couple are afforded newer ways of looking at things and can help them to choose what they would like to change having gained such new knowledge.

All of this counselling work takes place in a safe(r) environment (the counselling room) away from your home (although you can set yourself homework too, with the counsellor’s help, if you wish).  The counsellor is always present during the session.  Sessions are weekly and last for 50 minutes.

Checking if the couples counsellor is right for you (both).

It is good practice to check a couple’s counsellor’s professional qualifications and what professional body(ies) the therapist is a member of (see “Finding and Evaluating a Counsellor”).  You may also want to experience the counsellor’s style for a session or two, because all counsellors who are trained in a particular model of counselling do not all implement their practice in quite the same way.  A good counsellor will meet with the couple for an assessment – to discover the presenting issues, to discuss what the focus of the counselling work should be, and for everyone to determine if entering into couples counselling is right for everyone at this time.

Coming to counselling together … or …

Couples counselling works by offering counselling towards the couple’s relationship, as opposed to offering counselling to two individuals. Therefore, it’s advisable to come to counselling together.  If that is not possible, you might still seek a counsellor who would work with you both separately, or consider individual counselling to help you personally with your relationship problems.

Make an Appointment for Couples Counselling.

Send me a message to make an appointment or an enquiry for Couples Counselling.

(c) danielbrezina.com, Flickr

Introduction.

A current problem (2010) is that counselling and psychotherapy is not yet governed by UK law.  Anyone can advertise themselves as a counsellor or therapist without actually having any professional training, appropriate qualifications or any actual experience. Unfortunately, this might suggest that the client seeking therapeutic treatment could be at risk of working with an unqualified therapist.

However, finding a qualified and experienced counsellor can be a straightforward process if you know of some helpful things to look for.

This post describes how to find a suitable therapist – and offers some topics to check out with your potential therapist.  At your first meeting, most – if not all – therapists should not be phased by you asking about the topics (in later sessions, however, some therapists may not answer your questions about them directly, but be interested with you in the purpose of your question – keeping the focus upon you.  This is a legitimate form of therapy (eg psychodynamic / psychoanalytical) – but I include it here just so that you are aware).

Advice for Clients.
Read: “How to get the best out of your therapist”
(c) BACP – 2010

Search a Professional Body

An easy way to find a suitable therapist is to use a professional therapists’ body that offers a “find a therapist” type of service. The therapists listed may have had to pay for an entry, but would also have had their qualifications checked before being allowed to pay for an entry in the list.  It’s a good place to begin searching for a therapist.

• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
  http://www.bacp.co.uk/seeking_therapist
• British Association for Psychotherapy
  http://www.bap-psychotherapy.org/
• The British Psychological Society
  http://www.bps.org.uk/

… however, if you wish to find your own therapist – or you would like some advice on what to check out about your potential therapist – then read on.

Finding your Own Therapist.

Finding your own therapist can be easier when you want to find a counsellor with specific criteria.  Sometimes professional bodies do not include such criteria.  Use search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing to begin your search – and then refer to the information below about what you might want to check about each potential therapist.

Qualifications.

Does the counsellor has a recognised qualification in counselling.

Diplomas and Degrees – check that the qualification included actual supervised practice (eg 100 hours counselling practice to achieve the qualification).  Having a qualification in the theory of counselling without any actual practice may be insufficient for your needs.

Certificates in counselling may not include any actual practice to gain the award if they are just certificates of attendance.

Membership of Professional Body.

Is the counsellor a registered member of a professional body?  Do they subscribe to a recognised code of ethics or an ethical framework for their therapeutic work?  Is there anyone to whom you could report your complaint if you needed to?

Special interest/experience.

Does the counsellor have any special interests or special experience in working in particular therapeutic areas?

Theoretical approach.

There are different forms of counselling and psychotherapy – and whilst it’s the relationship between therapist and client that is shown to matter, some approaches might suit you better than others.

See Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychotherapies for information on therapy models.

Who does the counsellor work with?

Does the counsellor state what types of person they can work with (eg adults, couples, young people, children, elderly etc).

“This is how I work”.

Does the counsellor give you an idea of how they work therapeutically?

Fees.

Do you understand what the therapy will cost?

Supervision.

Counselling supervision is a formal meeting in which the counsellor meets with a qualified supervisor (or another counsellor) to review their clinical work.  Sometimes their professional development and their personal development is reviewed too – depending on the counsellor’s needs. A supervisor is not a managerial role, but more of a professional service designed to support the counsellor.

Is the counsellor taking regular supervision?  Some therapists’ professional bodies require the therapist a minimum amount of supervision every month (eg 90 minutes).

Continual Professional Development.

Does the therapist make you aware that they attend CPD (a form of contining their training and experience throughout their practice).  Some professional bodies, such as the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, require that the counsellor obtain a specific number of CPD hours per year.

A Role-played counselling session.

As part of a university project for Pete Allen-Worth, I was invited to be filmed performing some role-played counselling sessions.

We planned and recorded three demonstration sessions: (1) a display of integrated basic counselling skills, (2) asking only open-ended questions, (3) performing only reflective statements. The second & third videos are more geered towards counselling students, whereas the first is an appropriate “gives you a gist” of how counselling takes place. The part of the client is role-played by Liam Devaney.

Video: Integrated Basic Skills.

This is the first of the videos mentioned.

The part of the client (left hand side) is being role-played but I (right hand side) am working with real counselling techniques. This session is an example early session with a client – assuming that we have completed an assessment and have made a decision to continue into regular weekly counselling.  You may assume that both the client and counsellor have met at least once before.

The sessions lasts for just four minutes – a real session would last for fifty minutes and, for example, would likely contain more spaces for silences and thought than this role-play demonstrates.

Portsmouth & Southsea, Hampshire / Chichester, West Sussex

Counselling in Portsmouth & Southsea, Hampshire.

(c) aeFusion, Flickr

Where.

My Portsmouth & Southsea consultation room is on Landport Terrace, Portsmouth, PO1 2RG (click for location map).

When.

I offer appointments here on Monday afternoons & evenings, and Friday mornings.

Location.

The building is on the main road, easily accessible by train and local bus routes – both ten minutes from your counselling.  Opposite Landport Terrace is a small & peaceful park, which is quiet to sit in after a session (when the weather is nice!) and the coast, Southsea Clarence Pier and the hovercraft is a 10 minute walk from the building.

Within the building we have a reception and a comfortable waiting room with a toilet – I will come and collect you from the reception before each session.

If you bring someone with you for support, your friend is welcome to visit the many local shops, museums and coffee shops/cafes during your session as, for confidentiality and health & safety, we are unable to cater for someone sitting in the waiting room during someone’s counselling session.

My consultation room is at the top of the building (second floor) so is unfortunately inaccessible by wheelchair. Arrangements can be made for mobility impaired.

Advice on Travelling to Portsmouth.

Buses:
See Portsmouth Bus Service routes planner:- http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/AtoZ/592.html

Railway:
Nearest railway stations are:
“Portsmouth Harbour” (click for directions)

“Portsmouth & Southsea” (click for directions – cut through Portsmouth Guildhall walk).

Both stations are an approximate 10 minutes’ walk.

Car Parking:
Convenient parking (up to three hours for free behind the building (St. Paul’s Road etc) or a parking meter on Landport Terrace). Parking passes for your session time are available from reception.

Click to make an appointment.

See also: Fees for Private Counselling.

Counselling in Chichester, West Sussex.

(c) David Spender, Flick

Where.

My Chichester consultation room is on Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PL (click for location map).

When.

I offer appointments here on Tuesday evenings (sometimes Wednesday mornings/afternoons).

Location.

The building is off of East Street and is a short ten minute walk from the furthes car parks and the railway station. Within the building there is a waiting area where you can wait for your appointment, toilets and a water dispenser.  I will come and collect you from the waiting room before each session.  The building does not support wheelchair access and my room,  being on the first floor, may be difficult to negotiate by the mobility impaired.  Arrangements can be made for mobility impaired.

Advice on Travelling to Chichester.

Buses:
See West Sussex Buses & Couches:- http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/roads-and-transport/public-transport/buses-and-coaches/

Railway:
Nearest railway station is:
Chichester (click for directions)

Car Parking:
There are 5 city car parks, the furthest away are a 10 minute walk from Little London (click to see Chichester Parking). Parking is free in most car parks after 5pm.

Click to make an appointment.

See also: Fees for Private Counselling.

GPS image (c) LaertesCTB, Flickr.