Carol Caveney

Sessions are available Mon-Fri, daytime and evening.  

I currently offer face-to-face and zoom sessions.

Immediate starts are currently available.

When day to day life feels overwhelming, when you are struggling to cope, feel stuck or want to make changes, therapy can help.

I’m Carol, a qualified therapist, and I help people just like you navigate life’s difficult experiences and better meet it’s challenges.

Whether you are struggling with anxiety, depression, lack direction or feel stuck, whether you feel like you’ve lost touch with yourself or your work, family life or relationships - I can work with you to create awareness and make changes.

My approach is compassion-based, empowering, non-judgmental and empathetic. Our sessions will be a warm and nurturing space in which to explore your past, your present, your thoughts, your feelings, and your behaviours in a confidential setting.

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We can meet Monday - Friday, daytime or evening, face-to-face in my practice space in Birmingham, online via Zoom or via secure messaging.

Sessions are 50 minutes, take place on a weekly basis, and our work together can be short or long-term, depending on your needs.

Session fee is £45. A small number of weekly online concessions sessions are also available for students and low-wage earners.

Your next step would be to book a free telephone assessment, this will offer us some time to explore what is bringing you to therapy, and how we might work together to help you create the positive changes you are looking for.

If you are curious about how therapy might benefit you, my website carolcaveneycounselling.com will tell you a little about what you can expect from sessions, and about me, and how I work. 

I practice counselling in an integrative way. This means I am trained in a number of different therapeutic approaches, and will combine these in the way which best suits you. This approach acknowledges you as a unique individual and allows me to be more flexible and responsive to your needs.

Regardless of what brings you to therapy - whether you are experiencing depression, anxiety or struggling with life events - several principles underpin approach. I will always be honest and open with you. I will always treat you as the expert on you - and never assume I know better. I will not judge, no matter what you bring to session. I will work to ensure you always feel supported, heard and safe to work through whatever comes up.

The goal of therapy is not that you receive advice or a ‘fix’ for your struggles. It is that you gain confidence in your own abilities, build autonomy, feel better equipped to cope with the challenges life presents, and own your own unique story.

For many years - prior to training as a domestic violence support worker and then as a therapist - I worked as a marketing and communications consultant, helping businesses to shape and tell great stories about their products and services. 

Since training to be a therapist, I now work with clients as they explore and make sense of their own unique life stories, support them as develop new levels of self-awareness, make changes and enjoy more balanced, happier lives as a result.

Initially, our first session will focus on agreeing how we will work together and the boundaries we will put in place in order to maintain confidentiality and safe practice. This will cover a number of important issues such as limits to confidentiality, session cancellation policy and ethics.

Once we've worked through this - usually this takes around 10-15 minutes, I'll invite you to begin wherever and whenever feels right.

It's not my role to tell you what to talk about, but I will always help you to work out what it is that you’d like to focus on. Sometimes this process may take a little while, but that is fine. It takes as long as it takes. We’ll also talk a little bit about what you’d like to achieve in counselling, what your goals might be.

There's no way to predict what might come up in session - you may find that aspects of your childhood come up, relationships with friends and family, or work situations that you're finding difficult to manage. You may want to discuss thoughts, emotions or aspects of your behaviour or recurring feelings you've become aware of.

Equally, if you've sought out support for a specific issue such as bereavement or the difficult end of a relationship, we can focus on that. It is your time, and you can choose to explore whatever feels right for you, I can help you focus, explore and work towards the outcome you’re looking for.

Each session lasts 50 minutes, and there will always be a clock in your eye line and mine. There is no need for you to remain aware of time, as I will monitor how much time has passed and will let you know when we have about 5-10 minutes left. Many clients find this helpful for two reasons, firstly it prevents the abrupt ending of a session which can feel jarring and uncomfortable, and secondly, it allows us both to be mindful of gently winding down toward the end of the session, so you feel able to leave feeling safe and grounded.