Whether you’re thinking about counselling for the first time or you’re coming back to it after a break, it can be helpful to have some idea of what to expect and how it all works. To start with some basics about me; my name is Susanne Hart and I am a qualified counsellor with a Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling from the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling (BCPC) and a Diploma in Relational Couples Therapy from the Centre for Relational Couples Therapy.
I’m an Accredited Professional Registrant with the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS); a leading professional body for counselling in the UK. This means that I'm also registered with the Professional Standards Authority so you can be reassured that the work I do is fully regulated.
As a counsellor, my aim is to establish safe counselling relationships that are built on respect and trust.
The therapeutic model I use is called the person-centred approach, which means that I consider you and your experience to be unique, with no set of rules that fits you exactly.
My role is to walk alongside you as you explore your experience and how it is impacting your life now so that you can reconnect with who you really are, rather than the person that you have become due to difficult circumstances or because other people expect you to be that way.
I take the same approach with relationship counselling for couples. You are both unique, so your relationship will be unique too. Understanding the bedrock of your relationship along with the hopes, expectations and assumptions that you’re both bringing to it, is important if you’re hoping to move past whatever is getting in the way of being happy together.
I also use other techniques and theories that I feel are compatible with the way I work.
This is known as an integrative approach because I am integrating other theories from outside of the person-centred tradition.
In the main, these theories are from other psychotherapeutic models such as Attachment Theory and Mindfulness. If you have any questions about how I work, please don’t hesitate to ask.
What will happen if you make an appointment?
While I am meeting clients in person, I'm encouraging my clients to access my service online using a webcam. If you would like to make an appointment, please call or email me so that we can discuss whether in person or online appointments might work best for you. I have a Covid safe policy in place so some safety measures will apply for in person appointments.
This first session is as much about you checking me out as me seeing if I might be able to help you. Contacting me in the first place might have been a big step so you need to be sure that the service I offer is right for you before we agree anything further.
If you’d like to book more appointments, there’s no specific number of sessions that you need to sign up for.
Some people feel able to support themselves again after only a few sessions, while others might want longer. I usually suggest that we agree to eight sessions as a starting point. Eight sessions is usually enough time to work through something more short term but is also enough time to get to know each other and build a stronger therapeutic relationship if you’d like to go on to explore something that may be more complex in nature.
This is just a guideline though and how long we might work together is entirely dependent on what you feel you need and is something that we will agree together.
Online Counselling
You might consider online counselling if you have limited mobility, have difficulty accessing transport, feel safer talking to someone from your own home, or simply find it hard to fit a one-to-one meeting into a busy schedule.
I've been working with clients via webcam since 2016. The service I offer is via Whereby which is secure, stable and free for clients to access.
If you would like to access my online counselling service, please call on 07592 593 734 and I will be happy to discuss your options.
One of my key aims in counselling is to provide a safe environment for you to share your experience so it's essential that you still feel safe if we are talking via webcam rather than meeting in person. For that reason, it’s important that we discuss your options fully before we book any sessions.
Counselling Sessions and Fees
Counselling sessions last for 50 minutes and costs £50 for individuals and £75 for couples. If you are meeting with me at my counselling practice in Knowle; fees are payable at each session. If we have agreed to work online, payments should be made by electronic transfer in advance of each session.
Qualifications
• Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling (DipHIC) - BCPC (2013)
• Diploma in Relational Couples Therapy - Centre for Relational Couples Therapy (2020)
• Certificate in Relational Couples Therapy - Centre for Relational Couples Therapy (2014)