Ruth Heatherley

I am currently taking on clients. Please contact me for availability.

I am an experienced BACP Registered Integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist working in person from my home in Southsea and online via Zoom across the UK.

If you are struggling with your relationships, feeling depressed, anxious or sad, have difficult feelings about yourself or are you just finding it hard to enjoy life, I would like to help.

Perhaps you have you been negatively affected by Covid and the lockdowns, or you just want to grow, change and develop? Or you may have a sense that something is holding you back and you need help to understand why this is and how you can move beyond what you feel is limiting you.

Whatever your reason, embarking upon therapy and finding the right therapist for you can feel daunting. I offer a safe non-judgemental and confidential therapeutic space to help you to fully explore what is troubling you, increase your self-understanding and find solutions for a positive way forward. 

My practice is informed by my own journey and by the belief that we all have the ability with the support of the therapeutic relationship, to access our own healing power and find our way back to who we truly are, so we can feel more empowered, resourced and enabled to fulfil our true potential.

How I work

As an integrative therapist I work intuitively, drawing on a range of therapeutic interventions best suited to my clients. These include traditional talking therapies such as Psychodynamic and Person Centred approaches but also CBT, mindfulness and psycho-education.

I also work creatively using sand tray and art or drawing therapy which can help foster a better connection to our bodies, helping us to process past experiences and gain a greater understanding of our behaviours, thoughts and feelings in the present.

Combining talking therapies with the creative process enables us to access our subconscious in a safe and supported way, so we can change deep rooted behaviours and beliefs that may not be serving us in our lives anymore.

However we decide to work, evidence suggests that the therapeutic relationship is the key ingredient to facilitating healing, change and transformation and so I place great emphasis on the building of trust which enables clients to feel safe and supported in the work.  

I offer both short-term (6-12 weeks) and longer term or open ended work. Sessions are £65 in person and £55 online, are held at the same time each week and last for 50 minutes.  

If you decide to contact me, I offer a free initial 50 minute consultation so you can find out more about me and how I work, tell me what has brought you to counselling, what you want to achieve and explore how we might work together. 

I can also answer any questions or concerns you might have about starting counselling.