What we offer
Counselling and Psychotherapy
We offer individual therapy to adults and older teenagers (from the age of 15). Family therapy is available for families with younger children as well as adult families. We also offer couples therapy.
If you’ve not had any sort of therapy before then the following may make the process at little clearer:
What is counselling and psychotherapy?
People describe counselling in different ways, but it broadly means a space where you can sit and talk through what is troubling you with a trained therapist who will listen carefully and not judge you. A lot of people find that they understand themselves better as a result and gain different perspectives on their lives, enabling them to make changes for the better.
Some people come to counselling with a specific problem that they would like some help with. Others come with a less clear sense of what is wrong, and they then work with their therapist to explore what is troubling them and to find solutions.
Unlike some of the media portrayals of psychotherapy and counselling, what we do is very down to earth. You will be sitting on a chair, not lying on a couch, and we do not make endless notes of what you say. We understand that many people may feel nervous coming to therapy, particularly if it is the first time that you have talked about your problem. We will help you to feel comfortable and will go at a pace that suits you.
We use the term counselling and psychotherapy interchangeably, but some would say that counselling refers to short term work, whereas psychotherapy refers to longer term work.
Here at Beverley Counselling & Psychotherapy we offer both long and short term therapy.
Family Therapy
Family and systemic psychotherapy – also known as family therapy – can help those in close relationships to better understand and support each other. It enables family members to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs, build on family strengths, and work together to make useful changes in their relationships and their lives.
Every family is a bit like a human body. Sometimes it feels great, and things work well.
Sometimes even small things can feel like a huge challenge. When we hurt one part of our body, every part can be affected in some way. But all the parts of the body can work together to help if a bone gets broken, or if there’s an infection. So family therapy helps family members to work together when something is hurting, or just feeling out of sorts.
Research shows Family Therapy is useful for children, young people and adults experiencing a very wide range of difficulties and experiences.
For more information this leaflet from the Association for Family Therapy may be of help.
Couples Counselling
Couples counselling (also known as couples therapy) can help a couple to talk, with the facilitation of an experienced therapist, about their relationship issues, including to cope with a betrayal or an affair, the loss of a close family member, illness, financial difficulties, redundancy, retirement, infertility, loss of a child, addiction and sexual difficulties.
We understand that the decision to come to couples counselling can often be a difficult one and bring about feelings of fear and shame. However, at Beverley Counselling & Psychotherapy, we provide a professional and safe environment in which everyone can feel comfortable.
We work with married/cohabiting couples, same sex couples, individuals with relationship issues, older couples, trans-cultural couples and couples who are dealing with sexual identity issues.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)
The effectiveness of eye movements in helping clients process distressing memories was first discovered by the psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late nineteen eighties. Since then her EMDR protocol has developed into a globally recognised psychotherapy. The primary aim of EMDR is to identify and process unhelpful behaviours, emotions, thoughts and memories arising from recent or past trauma and distressing life experiences. Once these are processed and ‘refiled’ in a different part of the brain, clients are able to manage the memories better, and move on with their lives.
In the UK EMDR is a NICE approved therapy for PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) and has uses in pain management, phobias and other anxiety states. Detailed information about EMDR, along with videos demonstrating the technique can, of course, be found on the internet.
Sessions are usually slightly longer than in standard counselling or psychotherapy.
Lynn is our EMDR practitioner. Please get in touch with us and she will be able to give you more information.
Supervision
We are able to offer supervision to qualified counsellors and trainee counsellors.
Please get in touch for more information.
Training / CPD
We will be offering affordable training and CPD in the form of one day training and longer courses spread over a number of days. These are available to all qualified and trainee counsellors.
Subjects are to include: Systemic Therapy, Eating Disorders, Bereavement, Trauma, and Setting up in Private Practice.
We will provide certificates to all those completing a course, detailing the number of CPD hours accrued.
Please enquire for further details.