Ruth Baker

Ruth Baker


Registered Member MBACP

Contact information

Phone number
07736334454

Contact Ruth


The information outlined in this listing is not to be used for advertising or marketing purposes.

Therapist - Totnes

Totnes TQ9
07736334454
Contact Ruth for session rate.

Features

Availability

I am based in central Totnes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and offer appointments during the day.

My fee is between £80 and £100 per hour for individuals and £150 for 1.5 hours for couples.

Please enquire for concessions. 

About me and my therapy practice

I have been working as a counsellor and psychotherapist for 30 years. I graduated with a psychology degree where developmental psychology and attachment theory caught my attention. It made sense that our early years have a significant impact on how we form relationships and how we are in the world. I took a brief diversion into other worlds before pursuing the interests of my degree, training as both a counsellor, as a social worker /probation officer, psychotherapy and supervisor. I have a breadth of experience working with a wide range of people in different organisational settings as well working in organisational development, service development, redesign and operational management. My passion has always been in improving the experience of the users on the ground.

I practiced Tai Chi for many years which gave me a deep understanding of body awareness and how somatic experiences interplay with the psychological. I have an ongoing spiritual practice which informs my work and understanding of depth psychology. I actively connect with the natural world by simply being in nature. Listening, watching, being. How we relate to the natural world and what manifests from this can be a mirror and source of learning for our inner selves. My hope is as we heal the places of hurt, despair and isolation we create something stronger and more beautiful.

Life is a learning experience I have undertaken post graduate study in psychotherapy from an integrative Transactional Analysis perspective, couples work, organisational development and coaching, supervision, different theoretical perspectives including training as a Mindfulness teacher, Process Oriented Psychology, CBT, Solution Focussed, EFT, Somatic Trauma work and more. I am a teacher and supervisor of Sandplay Therapy and Therapeutic Art.

We humans often lack compassion for ourselves, I aim to bring a compassionate focus to our work and lives.

I work across a broad range of issues.

Practice description

I mainly work with individuals and couples from the age of 18 upwards. My oldest clients have been in their 80’s. I enjoy working across the age range. Clients (individuals and couples) present with a range of issues or simply a desire to know themselves better and focus upon their inner work and world.

Many people attend when life has become unbearable or in response to a crisis. They need support in making new decisions in finding different ways of living. They may simply be looking for a way of getting to know themselves better.

The role of the counsellor and psychotherapist is to help a person work to gain a fresh perspective and enable them to live a more fulfilled and positive life.

Counselling and psychotherapy are similar in approach. Counselling is generally concerned with working through day-to-day issues which are of a more conscious nature. These issues are worked with in a sensitive, compassionate and non-judgemental way.

Counselling contracts tend to be shorter term.

Psychotherapy is more concerned with getting under the surface of the problem or issues. It is concerned with a deeper transformation. People often present when they are feeling ‘stuck’ in a familiar pattern of thinking, feeling or behaviour. It may be the person does not know what is troubling them, but they are aware something is wrong. The work is often an exploratory process to support the person in finding new insights into their lives.

Psychotherapy contracts tend to be longer term and work at greater depth.

A good therapeutic outcome will always depend upon the quality of the relationship between the therapist and client.

Appointments are usually weekly, sometimes twice weekly depending upon need. This work requires a significant commitment from both parties.

Individual sessions are usually 50 minutes and couples’ sessions 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

My first session

With individual clients and potential supervisees I usually have a telephone conversation or brief meeting. The purpose of this is to gain a sense as to whether we are the ‘right fit’ for each other. We will also discuss fees and my cancellation policy. It is an opportunity for you to ask some questions however most people simply rely upon their sense of how the conversation goes.

If we agree to work together, I will usually begin the first full session by taking an outline of your personal circumstances and history and agreeing a therapeutic contract.

This is not an absolute – sometimes people arrive so ‘full’ we start at a place where there is most need.

With couples I tend not to offer a brief initial meeting – we simply set up an initial first session

What I can help with

Abuse, AIDS/HIV, Anger management, Anxiety, Bereavement, Business coaching, Cancer, Career coaching, Child related issues, Coaching supervision, Cultural issues, Depression, Disability, Eating disorders, Executive coaching, Health related issues, Infertility, Leadership coaching, Life coaching, Loss, Obsessions, OCD, Personal development, Phobias, Post-traumatic stress, Pregnancy related issues, Redundancy, Relationships, Self esteem, Service veterans, Sexual identity, Sexuality, Spirituality, Stress, Trauma, Work related issues

Types of therapy

Brief therapy, CBT, Creative therapy, Gestalt, Humanistic, Integrative, Jungian, Person centred, Play therapy, Psychodynamic, Relational, Solution focused brief therapy, Transactional analysis, Transpersonal

Clients I work with

Adults, Couples, Families, Groups, Older adults, Organisations, Trainees, Young people

How I deliver therapy

Long term sessions, Long-term face-to-face work, Online therapy, Short term sessions, Short-term face-to-face work, Telephone therapy, Time-limited

Languages spoken

English