Philipp Grote

My main availability is on Mondays and Saturdays. I also have some limited availability on most other days. Please feel free to contact me to discuss.

Disclaimer: I am employed as a counsellor at the University of Plymouth (UoP) and I am not able to meet with current UoP university students, or former UoP students who have worked with me as a university counsellor less than one year ago. If in doubt, feel free to contact me.

I am an integrative counsellor and psychotherapist with over ten years experience in Higher and Further education settings, helping people of all ages process trauma and find solutions to live's challenges. I enjoy accompanying my clients on their journey and find ways forward. My approach is creative and flexible, informed by a person centred approach that integrates existential, phenomenological and solution focused brief therapy approaches. I am particularly experienced in supporting people who experience themselves as different and diverse, or feel discriminated against or shamed by the world they live in.

I meet clients in person, on zoom (online) or on the phone. My office is near Mutley plains in Plymouth. Clients may be able to use the car park in front of the building that offers two hours free parking, and my office is located 11 minutes away from the train station. The building has a bathroom. I am on the 2nd floor and the building does not have an elevator, so it will not be suitable for people in wheelchairs or who struggle with stairs.

Subject to availability, I can offer weekly, bi-weekly or ad hoc one-at-a-time sessions. Feel free to discuss any queries or concerns you have with me prior to our first meeting.

I normally briefly review our work every six sessions. I am happy to contract for short term or long term work. 

I aim for our first session to be a therapeutic consultation. This includes some assessment of what is going on for you and gives you the opportunity to check me out. 

Subject to availability, I offer a free first one-hour session. This gives us time to discuss your hopes from therapy, and lets you decide if you will be comfortable working with me.

My main days of availability are on Saturdays and Mondays but I am also available at some hours on all other days. Please feel free to contact me and check my current availability

Provide both clinical and humanistic supervision. I support both trained and trainee counsellors and psychotherapists. 

Trained in the 7 level-eyed model of supervision, offer an exploration of client work through 7 key perspectives: focus on your client, exploring the interventions you use, focus on your relationship with your client, focusing on how our relationship may offer insights on your client work, focusing on what emerges in me as the supervisor as we talk about a client, and considering the wider context for you and your client that frames and impacts your work.

My aim is to support you in developing the counsellor you are and aim to be, and I encourage supervisees to take a developmental perspective on their work. 

My approach is rooted in unconditional positive regard, empathy, compassion, and congruence. I am an integrative practitioner with an interest in person-centered, Gestalt, existential and Solution Focused Brief Therapy modalities. I have an appreciation of CBT and psychodynamic approaches, and I highly regard Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts theory in widening our understanding of what happens for us and the client in the therapy room.

My current experience is as a counsellor and supervisor at the University of Plymouth, where I supervise associate counsellors in individual and group supervision. I supervise both trainee counsellors and fully qualified counsellors.

I aim to meet you colleague to colleague. I accept that I am not the expert of you. My aim is to come alongside you, as a fellow therapist. I want to support you in building your confidence and to embrace the doubts and vulnerability that are at the heart of all relational work. 

I am an accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with the BACP and usually suggest using their ethical framework as a reference. Feel free to discuss this with me if you belong to a different governing body.

I normally suggest that we talk for up to 1/2 hour on zoom or on the phone before booking our first session, so you have some sense if I may be the right supervisor for you.

In our first session of supervision, we will also need to discuss our supervisory contract. I suggest that you also share any clinical supervision needs you have (for instance as a trainee), as well as any other preferences in your supervision. For instance, you may wish to develop certain aspects of your practice, or you may siwh to focus on certain modalities in your work (i.e. how you integrate CBT).