Claire Barrett

Asking for help can be a tough step to take and it can be challenging to know where to start. As an experienced therapist, supervisor and Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (MBACP),  I am able to support you in a compassionate, confidential & professional way to talk about the problems you may be facing. 

How I work: I draw on different therapeutic approaches to work with clients, but I am particularly informed by Attachment Theory as a way of approaching clients past and current challenges.

Our attachments in life shape our individual growth and emotional development. Early life bonds & experiences, relationships, and the environment that we grow up in define & influence who we are and our current difficulties.

I also consider how our emotional responses affect us physically. Somatic symptoms can be overlooked, but they can help us to recognise why and how we react to certain situations, and how they can link to earlier childhood experiences. Paying attention to both emotional and physical responses enables the body and the mind to work closer together.

This way of working helps uncover less conscious reasons for why and how you may relate to people or why you feel stuck in your present problems. It can allow old patterns to change and assist in the better management of your thoughts, feelings and responses. Importantly, it encourages change at a much deeper & meaningful level and in a long-lasting way.

About Me: In addition to working privately with clients and supervisees, I am a supervisor for a counselling charity in Bickley and have been involved with teaching all levels of counselling training.

I have also worked within an adult weight management service for the NHS and gained specialist training & experience in working with emotional eating, over-eating & binge eating issues. Some of my private work is with clients who want to understand and address the emotional issues that underpin their weight.

I have experience of working with a range of emotional difficulties and offer both in-person and remote counselling sessions. Based in the Tunbridge Wells area, I am conveniently situated for clients living in the surrounding areas of Kent & the South-East.

My Practice:  My aim is to offer you a reflective, collaborative & reparative space with which to explore your problems.

We can discuss your needs and what is right for you during our initial telephone conversation. I offer short and long-term therapy, but the length of therapy will depend on the difficulties that you are facing and how long you wish to stay working with me.

In-person sessions are held at a private venue which offers a peaceful, natural, and welcoming environment. My therapy room is light and spacious and enjoys views of the surrounding semi-rural space which there is also opportunity to work in.

Our Therapeutic Relationship:  I regard our counselling relationship as very important and central to our work together. It is very different to the type of one you will experience with friends, family & colleagues. It is secure, confidential & contained and the focus is on your experience of your problems. I will not give you advice, nor will I judge you or tell you what to do, but instead I will accept all your experiences & feelings as valid and work with you to make sense of them. Together we will work through what you feel is best for you and in doing so you may start to manage your life more affectively.

My aim is to support you in gaining the confidence and capacity to better support yourself.

I offer a free initial 30 minute telephone call to see if working together feels appropriate for us both.

I hold a Diploma in Integrative Supervision of Individuals and Groups which meets the rigorous supervision training standards as set out by the BACP and work with both qualified and trainee therapists.

I believe in the absolute necessity and benefit of a supportive, consultative and restorative space for you to reflect openly on different aspects of your therapeutic work, one that I also hope will encourage mutual curiosity, playfulness and learning for us both.

As we continue you may have specific supervision requirements and needs that arise, so my aim is also to provide you with an adaptable space to regularly review your caseload as well as your supervision arrangements with me.

My core model has a psychodynamic relational focus and can support a variety of therapeutic approaches. Attachment theory particularly informs my practice. I pay close attention to what may be revealed within the therapeutic dyad and supervisory space, particularly using psycho-biological understanding of early and on-going attachment experiences as well as trauma informed approaches when working with both clients and supervisees.

I contain our supervisory work with the Hawkins and Shohet Seven-Eyed Model of Supervision.

I offer both in-person and on-line sessions. We can discuss your needs and what is right for you during our initial telephone conversation. 

In-person sessions are held at a private venue which offers a peaceful, natural, and welcoming environment. My therapy room is light and spacious and enjoys views of the surrounding semi-rural space which there is also opportunity to work in.