Jessica Murray

Please note: During the Covid-19 crisis I am working solely online, currently using password-protected Zoom meetings.

 I am a qualified integrative counsellor and a registered member of the BACP. I am also training as a Psychotherapist with the UK Institute of Intensive Short Term Psychotherapy.

I practice in a way which is very focused on you and the problem you have to come to me for help with. Working together we will try to understand how your problems have been created in order for you to take the steps needed to create deep and lasting change. Working in this way, as well as paying close attention to what you have to say, we will notice your body, for example the ways in which conflicts can create tension or distancing in our physical systems.

I am particularly experienced in working with individuals whose problems have a route in difficult early relationships. I work with adolescents as well as adults and  I provide affirmative and open support to gender, sexually and relationship diverse client. 

I recommend clients book sessions of 75 minutes (one and quarter hours) as these enable us to work more deeply in each session and have been found to be more productive and require less-therapy in total than shorter sessions.  My fee is £90 for 75 minutes, although low-income sessions are sometimes available.

I can offer both time-limited and open-ended counselling.

I am currently (during the Covid-19 outbreak) only offering online sessions. For this you will need a private space, a good internet connection and a device which is able to access the internet. Preferably a laptop or tablet, but a smart phone is also sufficient.

The first session is a commitment-free opportunity for you to trail my therapeutic approach. I will ask you about what you want my help with. Through your response, and in an accepting, compassionate way, we will explore the difficulty you are facing and what the underlying issues might be which mean you need some extra help at this time.  Although I working with a standard approach, how I work with you will be tailor-made to your issue and your experiences. 

This session is an opportunity for us both to explore whether we feel I can help you and whether we would like to keep working together.

Therapy can be a place to acknowledge our many selves. To explore our natures and to begin to accept who we are. Often people seek therapy struggling with a particular problem. This could be in their relationships with other people or something more internal. Others come for growth and self development.

I am here to help. To support you however you are and to work with you to create the changes you seek.

My approach is inspired by Person Centred, Psychodynamic and ISTDP techniques.

In therapy I try to help clients to see themselves as they are and to express that self in the therapy room. This might mean connecting with feelings which are difficult. Paradoxically it is through acceptance that we can gain more control over our responses.

I work with many clients with a diverse range of difficulties. I have particular experience working with the LGBTQ+ community and with children and young people.

As well as sessions in a typical counselling room, I also offer sessions in the natural environment.

Often we feel more relaxed in nature, meaning we are more able to get the most from our therapy. It might be that for you it is easier to talk walking alongside someone than sitting still face-to-face. And while your therapy only last an hour a week, nature is always there to return to.

https://wildtherapy.net/

My usual price is £60 for a fifty minute session, however when possible I try to be flexible with this price to make therapy available to people with a range of incomes and financial pressures.

My regular office is upstairs and unfortunately there is no lift in place. I am happy to use a different space or make home visits for people who would find accessing this space difficult.