Rebecca Shave

Monday 12:00 - 15:00 and 19:00 - 21:00

Tuesday 12:00 - 15:00 and 19:00 - 21:00

Wednesday 12:00 - 15:00 and 19:30 - 20:30

Thursday 12:00 - 15:00

Friday 12:00 - 15:00

I work with clients facing many life difficulties who would like support to understand themselves better and recover or heal from the experiences they have had. Some people have very specific experiences they know they are challenged by, others may feel things are not quite right at the moment and would like some time to try to work on their well-being and change the way they feel. Through the process of counselling, engaging in exploration and building a therapeutic relationship , my goal is to engender change, empowering my clients to make choices that suit them and meet their needs.

I am trained in a number of different types and forms of counselling and I use these interchangeably to provide a client focused practice. All the methodologies I use are humanistic, which means that it is my client's unique experiences that lead the work, there is no predetermined session format to follow and the amount of time a client remains in counselling is specific to their needs.

All of my work is rooted in trauma-informed practice, I recognise the pervasiveness of trauma and the diverse ways in which people who are exposed to trauma can experience symptoms neurologically, psychologically, personally and socially. Avoiding re-traumatisation is fundamental to my practice and is a core element of my work. 

Additionally, I am a neurodiversity advocate and I have appropriate awareness and experience of the nuances of Autism and ADHD to enable me to tailor my approach to the diversities of all my clients.

I believe in reducing the barriers to counselling so I work face to face with clients in a purpose-built office which is designed to be a calm space where clients feel safe enough to share their experiences. 

Using my specialist training and applying flexible principals to your unique circumstances I will provide support for you to safely explore your experiences.

Throughout life, many situations can occur which are challenging and cause emotional difficulties. Some people may have experienced difficulties throughout the whole of their lives, some may have experienced changes to their circumstances, or have gone through life changing experiences more recently. I believe that whatever a person’s life experiences, everyone deserves an opportunity to heal, develop a stronger sense of self, or just understand themselves better. I will work to create a safe environment for you to discuss, explore and understand your unique perception on what has happened to you and how you feel about those experiences.

Working collaboratively, I will use my training and therapeutic experience to provide a space where we can think together and make sense of what you have been through, as well as understand the ways in which coping strategies and belief systems that once may have worked very well for you, may now be hindering you.

I will be open and honest, and I will work with empathy and compassion to build the therapeutic relationship which is key to any success achieved in counselling. I will also share my understanding of processes that may be influencing you through psycho-education so you are equipped to understand yourself better. I may use handouts or activities to help create alternative ways to have conversations about experiences or provide an opportunity to look at something slightly differently.

I specialise in anxiety, depression, and historical and recent trauma. The feelings and thoughts that come with these experiences can be completely debilitating and impact a person's life regularly or sporadically. Clients who live with these events can often feel like they have lost control, don't feel whole and aren't able to live life to the fullest possible extent. Included in my trauma work is the knowledge of how to engage with people who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) which can create significant challenges.

Deciding to look for a counsellor can bring up lots of different emotions, it can be anxiety provoking to think of talking to someone about potentially sensitive topics, and looking on the numerous websites available can be overwhelming. If you chose to get in touch with me I will initially invite you to attend a free phone call where we can discuss what is bringing you to look for a counsellor and talk about how I practice. It's useful to consider if you feel like you are able to talk to me during this call because it's an indicator of whether you will feel comfortable working with me. At the end of this call we will talk about whether you want to move to sessions and agree a start date.

At the beginning of your first session, I will welcome you to the session and start by settling you in, asking how you are feeling at that moment and ensuring that you are comfortable.

I will move on to talking about how we will work together and discuss what you can expect from our counselling sessions. This is called our 'contract'. You are free to ask questions and while we talk through these aspects I will check to make sure that you're comfortable with the content to that we are agreeing to. 

After the contract is agreed and questions have been asked and answered it's time to move onto the main part of the sessions and I offer you the space to talk about your experiences at your own pace. This is also how subsequent sessions will start.

Additionally, at the end of the first session I will ask you how you are feeling about continuing working with me and if you feel comfortable to proceed with further sessions. This is your experience and it's important that you are given the appropriate opportunities to shape your counselling work.