Avril Baker

Counselling gives you an opportunity to think and talk about what’s going on for you in confidence, to understand more about why you are feeling as you do, and to find your own ways of dealing more effectively with the situations that face you. 

I offer counselling sessions, usually weekly, on either a short-term or open-ended basis. I am now only working online and can offer sessions via all the usual platforms. I will provide a safe and supportive environment in which you can look at anything that is troubling you, whether in your current situation or from past memories and experiences, and without the fear of judgement or the intrusion of someone else’s opinions and needs.

Personal growth and development is vital for us all and can be a transforming experience. It is an exciting journey but it needs to be taken at your own pace and followed in your own way. In working as a counsellor I use my own life experience as well as my training and counselling experience to support you in this process.

I have experience in working with issues of low self-esteem and confidence, bereavement and loss, drug and alcohol use, recovering from abusive experiences, stress-related problems, anxiety and phobias, and depression. 

Each person is unique and so the nature of counselling will differ from one person to the next. I am an integrative counsellor working with humanistic, psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural approaches, and I can combine these approaches in ways which suit the individual needs of each client. The humanistic element describes a relationship between counsellor and client which is attentive, respectful and client-led. The psychodynamic aspect provides a way of understanding the complex dynamics of each and every relationship we have. The cognitive behavioural aspect provides simple tools for changing the ways in which you deal with current situations. 

The first session is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and it may sometimes be slightly longer than the usual 50 minutes. I will send you a questionnaire and ask you to complete it and send it back to me before we meet. This can save us some time in the session, but if you're not happy doing this, don't worry, just let me know and we can cover the ground during our first session.