Alex Pledger

I work Monday - Thursday daytime and early evening. All sessions are offered online via Zoom.

The world is in troubled and uncertain times at the moment, affecting us personally, nationally and globally. It's understandable if sometimes you feel overwhelmed and not sure what you can change to make things better. Giving yourself the time and space to talk about what's affecting you and how it's making you feel is a great place to start. 

My counselling style is down-to-earth, kind but focused. I've been described as warm, funny and supportive but also challenging and straight talking. I believe therapy is a two-way process so I will listen more than I talk, but my training and nearly 20 years of experience has given me many tools, techniques and strategies which I will share with you to see what might help. We will start with your current situation but it might be that you are being influenced by events from your past so we can explore that together, looking for old ways of thinking, behaving or coping which you may be holding you back.

I work with a wide range of human experiences including:

modern-mind anxiety (overthinking, over-achieving, busyness, perfectionism, stress) 

low self-esteem (about who you are, how you look, what you've achieved, what people think of you) 

life fatigue (lack of motivation, drive, direction, enthusiasm) 

relational and communication problems (understanding and expressing your needs in healthy relationships with partners, friends, parents, at work) 

life-stage changes (marriage, parenting, divorce, menopause) 

behavioural changes (work-life balance, sustainable routines, self-care and wellbeing, managing addictive behaviours) 

I am Senior Accredited member of BACP, fully qualified and insured. My core model is integrative bringing together person-centred, CBT and psychodynamic theories, but I also draw on therapeutic coaching techniques including solution focused and brief therapy work.

To see client reviews about working with me please visit: https://www.time-to-change.me.uk/reviews/

I offer short or long term work depending on your needs and financial circumstances. Sometimes a short burst is enough to help you get over a crisis, but longer term work will help you get to the deeper root causes and prevent problems recurring. We will review our work as we go along to ensure we are working towards your goals.

Sessions are 50 minutes. We will begin by meeting once a week and try to find a regular time.

All sessions are online via Zoom.

Our first session will be an assessment to explore your current situation, find out where the problems are and work out what you would like to be different. It is also your chance to find out if you like my style and think I am the right person for you.

We will start to look for any patterns, behaviours, thoughts and beliefs that may be holding you back. Where have they come from? How long have they been around? What have you already tried to change them? We will also look at your resources and strengths - what has helped you get this far, what have you achieved along the way?

If you would like to go forward with sessions, we will agree the practicalities of our working contract and book our next session. If we decide we can't work together then I will sign-post you to other services or resources.

I work Monday - Thursday daytime and early evening. All sessions on online via Zoom.

We would try to find a regular time once a month to meet for 1.5hrs (or 1hr if you are supplementing other supervision). 

Good supervision is at the heart of keeping us safe and sane as therapists. It is where you balance the needs of your clients with your own well-being as a practitioner and the demands of your practice.

As a supervisor, I bring nearly 20 years clinical experience to supporting you with your practice. I have worked in a wide variety of different settings including with EAPs, insurance companies, private organisations and within mental health settings. 

My supervision style is supervisee-led but is based on a 3P model:

Philosophy - a shared attitude to client work, what it means to be a therapist and the complexities and demands of the work we do

Purpose - to offer you insight & support with your client work  work and help you to grow and develop as a professional and self-aware person

Process - a fluid, two-way communication which parallels the relationship we both aim to offer our clients

My own therapy model is integrative, combining core models of person-centred, CBT and psychodynamic theory but I am familiar with multiple ways of working and modalities.  

My specialist area is helping therapists working in private practice. I have worked in my own practice since first qualifying in 2005 and am passionate about helping therapists manage the responsibilities of working this way with the potential rewards. I offer a mentoring service for therapists new to private practice to support them in moving from voluntary or employed work into working for themselves, as well as support through the BACP accreditation process.

I currently supervise a range of therapists from different backgrounds working in a variety of contexts and theoretical models, so if you are interested in finding out if we could work well together, please don't hesitate to make contact, I would welcome an initial conversation.

We would agree a time to meet online every month for 1.5hrs (or 1hr if you are supplementing other supervision). Each session will depend on what you need to bring and this will be a mix of talking about yourself and anything which might be affecting your work at the time, and focusing on client work as well as professional issues like CPD, work opportunities and career development.

I am available for additional support as needed in between sessions and we can discuss how this works.

I work online only for all sessions, national or international.

Our first session will be a chance to discuss you and your current practice. I'm interested in knowing about the context you are working in, your current caseload, your goals for CPD or career development and what you would like to get out of supervision on a regular basis.

I can tell you about how I work and my areas of knowledge and expertise, including private practice and accreditation if this is something you are interested in pursuing. 

You can ask any questions to help you find out if I am the right fit to be your supervisor and we can discuss how our sessions might look if we decide to go forward.