About Me

Hi there, I'm Sam. Welcome to Counselling Your Way UK. 

 

I've been a counsellor for 16 years now and have always had the desire to help people therapeutically. Counselling isn't usually an easy experience. I know this because I've sat in the client seat too. I believe one of the most important aspects to finding the right counsellor for you is working with someone you feel comfortable with and who you can trust. I think part of this is getting a snapshot of the person you'd be sharing your thoughts and feelings with which is why I've written a little about myself here. 

 

I'm local to Chesterfield for those of you coming to see me in person (you'll notice this I'm sure when you hear my Derbyshire accent). I'm naturally creative at heart. My clients describe me as genuine, empathic and down to earth. I'm a good listener and would very much like to help you feel comfortable with the counselling process. 

I trained as a relationship counsellor at a time when digital communication wasn't as popular as it is now. I believe having been able to experience different mediums of communication (webcam, online text and telephone as well as face to face) in my practice at the heart of a national counselling organisation has really helped my ability to relate to different people. As has counselling in a secondary school, and a Rape and Sexual Assault centre. I now hold a private practice.

 

I hope this description helps you to start working out if I'm the right counsellor for you and to feel a little more comfortable in either picking up the phone or dropping me an email counsellingyourwayuk@gmail.com

My Approach

Within counselling there are many different theoretical approaches to helping people. My approach is what's called integrative. This means that I adapt different ideas and techniques to help you talk about and resolve whatever you need to. Some of the approaches I use are;

 

Person Centred - to give you choice and respect how you uniquely see the world. The idea that your beliefs, experiences, emotions, needs and solutions are unique.

Systemic - exploring the relationships and systems that are a part of your life and how these all interact.

Psychodynamic - to explore and understand how your past experiences might be impacting you now, and to explore how different parts of yourself interact sometimes in conflict and in harmony.

Creative & Play Therapy - to use stones or other objects, crafts, art materials, cards, games, sand-play and exercises to symbolically explore your emotions and situations.

Solution Focused - to contain and focus on specific angles or areas that you'd like to work through.

Emotion Focused Therapy - to explore and unravel difficult and painful emotions that may hold you back from moving forward.

Gestalt - to help find meaning in your unique experience and understand that the child version of you exists within the adult version of you.

Psycho-educational - to help educate in a useful way so that you may find patterns and ways of being that serve you better in your emotional health.

Experience

  • Member of The National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society's accredited register (NCPS).
  • 15 years experience as a counsellor working with adult couples, individuals, and young people. 
  • Over 4,000 hours' counselling with clients.
  • 15 years' experience of delivering counselling online via video-call, telephone, email and webchat as well as face to face.
  • 8 years' experience as a Clinical Supervisor.
  • 13 years' experience as a Counselling Trainer delivering continual professional development and counselling digitally courses.
  • 13 years' experience of writing therapeutic online content.
  • 6 years' experience of consulting as a digital expert in the counselling field.
  • Currently working 2 days a week in a secondary school.

Qualifications

  • Full DBS (formally CRB) checked with barring
  • Internal Family Systems 6 month Online Circle training
  • Certificate in Therapeutic Work with Children & Young People aged 5-18 years
  • Certificate in Clinical Supervision (level 6)
  • Counselling Using Digital Technology
  • Counselling Young People aged 11-25 years
  • Group Skills (Theory & Practice) for Trainers (level 3)
  • University Advanced Diploma in Relationship Counselling using Face to Face, Telephone & Email Interventions (level 6)
  • Counselling Skills (level 3)
  • BA (hons) Degree in Psychology & Criminology