Susan Anderson

Daytime on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 

As a counsellor/EMDR therapist, I work with people whose lives are affected by trauma and other challenges such as childhood events, assault, loss or current issues. Together we address what you need at the moment and what you want to change.

I am approachable if you feel sad, angry, confused, find you cannot sleep, are drinking or arguing too much, or do not feel like the “normal you”. I take everyone’s issues seriously regardless of your racial, gender and sexual identity.

Therapy can help you cope better with current and past challenges, feeling you have lost your way in life,  that your relationships are suffering, and with mental health difficulties that can develop as a result. It can also help you feel less overwhelmed, resolve past traumas and develop a fresh perspective so that you can free yourself up and make new choices. I provide a welcoming and safe space for you to explore and understand your difficulties with me, find self-acceptance and move on, building on your strengths and resources.

I am an integrative senior accredited BACP counsellor, accredited EMDR practitioner and clinical supervisor. I have worked in counselling, social work and the mental health services for over 30 years. Experience has taught me that some of life’s problems are heavily influenced by circumstances beyond our control and perhaps by social attitudes towards us. Therapy with me will takes this into account. Providing a service that respects diversity and fairness is very important to me.

£60 per counselling hour after free initial telephone consultation. £90 for 90-minute EMDR session.

I follow the ethical code laid down by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I offer weekly sessions using counselling and/or EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a trauma-focused therapy, following assessment and negotiation with you. I work online (Zoom), both short and long-term.

Counselling is a talking therapy aiming to reduce distress, enable resolution, develop a fresh perspective and make new choices. We focus on your thoughts, feelings, actions, physical reactions, relationships and memories. 

EMDR is a psychological therapy that helps you deal with traumatic experiences by enabling the brain to reprocess related and difficult memories that are still causing emotional and physical distress in your present life (such as nightmares, heightened emotions, hypervigilance and perhaps avoidance behaviours and dissociation). As the EMDR UK and IRELAND Association states EMDR is best known for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and it can also help with a range of mental health conditions in people of all ages https://emdrassociation.org.uk/

I see adults with post-traumatic stress, difficult childhood experiences, somatic reactions including eating and body image issues, dissociation, loss and bereavement, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, termination of pregnancy, fear of failure, problems at work, personal development, stressors relating to gender, sexuality, racial or ethnic identity, physical disability, neuro-atypical identity or a medical or psychiatric diagnosis.

I do not see people requiring immediate medical support due to acute psychiatric ill-health or active suicidal planning; a severe eating disorder; couples; children.

I offer a free telephone consultation which gives you the chance to decide if you want to book a session with me and to explain what is difficult for you at the moment. I let you know if I think I am a suitable therapist for you and explain how I work.

I provide integrative counselling which draws on understandings from systemic, psychodynamic, neuroscientific theories and cognitive-behavioural, solution-focused, compassion-focused and internal family system models. This means I can be flexible in my approach with you according to your individual needs and we can draw up a plan together in your first session. I carry out a full assessment, answer your questions and negotiate with you the most helpful area to focus on in your therapy, once you are sure you want to carry on sessions with me. I usually meet people for six sessions then we review how things are going and whether you want to change anything.

I will have a written agreement with you which includes my privacy policy and outlines the terms of and limits to the confidential nature of our work together, including an additional section for working online. In summary I offer a confidential service unless you disclose a serious risk to your own or another’s health and safety, or I am required to disclose information about you by law. I will always discuss this with you first and seek your consent, if possible. I pay careful attention to any concerns you have about your safety.

Daytime on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

I am an integrative senior accredited BACP counsellor, accredited EMDR practitioner and trained clinical supervisor. I have worked in counselling for over twenty years and before that in social work, including in mental health services.

I provide supervision for counsellors and psychotherapists. I have supervised one to one and in groups since 2004 in Higher Education, the voluntary sector and hospice settings.

I also offer supervision for other professionals who feel they would benefit from independent consultation due to the emotional impact of their work or the coronavirus situation.

I use supervision agreements with clear boundaries, lines of communication and accountability. I believe the supervision process has great potential for development, support and quality assurance with the supervisory relationship being central to this.

My core therapeutic model for both counselling and supervision is integrative. I draw on understandings from systemic, psychodynamic, neuroscientific theories and cognitive-behavioural, solution-focused, compassion-focused and internal family system models.

I completed post-graduate training in supervision in 2005 at Leicester University- Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies (Supervision)

In my therapy practice I provide a welcoming and safe space for clients to explore their difficulties with me, using counselling and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy, a trauma-focused therapy, following assessment and negotiation.

I provide supervision online. 

I offer a free telephone consultation to explore what you are looking for, what you currently need professionally to support you in your work and for us both to work out the next best step.