Richard Oster

I work Monday to Friday between 8 am and 6 pm.

I'm a BACP registered therapist based in Devon. I offer counselling and psychotherapy, face-to-face in Exeter or online wherever you are.

Life can be both beautiful and bleak, calm and stormy. Encountering pain and suffering is a human certainty. Experience has shown that when these challenges arrive it is not always possible to navigate them on your own. We are social beings and many of our problems are often created through unhealthy interactions with others. I believe, however, that with the right conditions, human connection can bring about restoration and growth.

I meet with clients wherever they are on their journey, offering a safe space to process, explore and recover. I offer warmth, kindness, insight and challenge.

My Approach

I am an integrative therapist which means I have been trained in a broad range of therapies. In particular, I draw upon Gestalt Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy and Internal Famly Systems. I am influenced by Existentialism and informed by Attachment Theory and Neuroscience. This has then enabled me to develop my own philosophy of counselling; creating one cohesive approach, drawing on the richness of a variety of modalities.

I have a three-phase framework that I use with all clients:

Connecting - creating the right conditions for the client to feel safe, developing trust and building a strong therapeutic relationship.

Exploring - together, examining all the parts that make up the whole of a person, including historical background and here and now experiences. Paying attention to reactions and being curious, with the aim of raising awareness.

Integrating - ongoing experimentation in the room and in the real world to test new approaches and develop skills. Moving to a place of acceptance and wholeness.

I am a qualified, integrative therapist, with a wealth of life experience. I trained at the Iron Mill College in Exeter which is “a well-established, leading provider of education and training in mental health and wellbeing”.

Formal Qualifications:

• Sports Science BSc Hons
• Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling (Accredited by the BACP)
• Certificate in Counselling (Accredited by the National Counselling Society, NCS)
• Counselling Young People Stage 1 (BACP Accredited)

My ongoing professional development and training include regular involvement in workshops, seminars and academic study.

Experience: 

I am in my 40s with a wealth of life experience. I spent the first part of my working life in the charity sector. I have worked with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts; including mentoring young people in schools, facilitating bereavement support groups and providing pastoral care to adults. This has exposed me to the challenges people face in their day-to-day lives: grief, abuse, loss, addiction, trauma, depression and anxiety, to name just a few. It has helped me develop the skill of connecting with people and focused my desire to work with people more directly.

As a therapist, I have worked with various clients from different backgrounds. Each client’s unique experience has given me deeper insight and understanding of a variety of presenting issues.

Alongside my private practice, I spent three years working for a trauma recovery charity based in Exeter offering individual therapy to survivors of domestic abuse. 

For a free 30-minute, no-obligation phone or online consultation, get in touch.

Visit www.spacebetweentherapy.com for more information