Dean Smithers

Welcome. My name is Dean, I'm an integrative counsellor, and I'm here to help you see through the complexities of your life to a clearer centre.

Please note that I'm available in person and online throughout the week.

What kind of therapy do you offer?

I provide an authentic and engaging style of talking therapy that aims to meet you entirely in whatever it is you're going through, week in, week out. My way of working is characterised by presence, empathy, curiosity, and when appropriate, just the right amount of humour. As an integrative counsellor, I combine several therapeutic approaches to form a unique whole.

What will our sessions be like?

During our time together, I'll strive to attune to you as deeply as I can so that I might step into your world; so that I might walk alongside you in it. My primary aim is to hold you in the emotional exploration of difficult experiences, but we'll also be working collaboratively to help you take steps towards meaningful and permanent change.

Do you specialise in anything?

I specialise in working with young adults—so if you're currently in your 20s or 30s and find yourself facing challenges specific to those years, then do get in touch. Most of my therapeutic work so far has focused on difficulties in familial and romantic relationships, the processing of unconscious or repressed material (including dreams), and the strengthening of one's self in the truest sense. Professionally, I have an interest in working with various addictions (including alcohol, sex, work, gaming, internet and porn), extreme or polarised states of mind, and the lasting impact of traumatic childhood events, no matter how subtle. I'm also drawn to those who find themselves lost in the rapidity of the modern world; in the rise of technology, and to those wanting to explore their spiritual or religious experience. It may be that you're undergoing a crisis of some kind, encountering difficulties in your spiritual practice, or having anomalous or 'other' experiences that you'd like to bring down into daily life, which can enrich it greatly.

What's unconscious,

Central to my integration is the processing of personal unconscious material, which can clear a path through dysfunctional relationships, self-destructive behaviours and the 'stuckness' that often accompanies not knowing why something keeps happening.

Made conscious,

If the hidden drive isn't there, it's less likely you'll continue to unknowingly participate in the same self-limiting experiences, which can be like contracting further into suffering rather than expanding into what's meaningful; into what fills you with purpose.

With care.

The aim here is to grow your known sense of what's right for you to the degree that it becomes a guiding star—the light of which has a better chance of being seen the more we pay it attention and make conscious the darkness obscuring it.

I'm a little nervous about starting—should I be?

In both my personal and professional experience, therapy can be challenging yet beautiful; demanding yet revelatory. It requires an ever-increasing degree of bravery and self-honesty from you, but its reward is far greater than its burden, so to speak, and the fullness of it—meaning both the dark and the light—is reflective of life itself. To hold these two halves in equal measure is, ultimately, what the psyche craves: balance.

Rest assured that sessions are informed by what you bring, and we'll always work at a pace most suited to you.

I hold a CPCAB-awarded Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and am a registered member of the BACP, whose Ethical Framework I adhere to. You can refer to this framework if ever in doubt about what constitutes good practice.

Working together...

An introductory online session is our opportunity to meet and get a clear sense of what working together might be like. You're welcome to ask me any questions you have at this stage, and I'll be asking you a bit about your life history, current situation and therapeutic needs as part of a full assessment. The session will last between 50-80 minutes (an extended period, for which I charge no fee), and ongoing therapy will be discussed and agreed upon collaboratively if we both decide to continue.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to hear me. And on that note, I very much look forward to hearing from you.