Rachael Morrison

I am a fully qualified counsellor & psychotherapist working within Carryduff, South Belfast, as well as online and telephone. I work with adults, adolescents and children (4+).

Adults, children and adolescents need a space to explore and express their experiences. However, for some, this tends to be more difficult as they struggle to understand what they're feeling, never mind find the words to describe them to another person.

Adults often find that when they voice their experiences, feelings, and worries, and confide in a professional who can offer support and help them make sense of these, they feel heard, understood, and often a little lighter from sharing the weight of these. It is the exact same for children and adolescents. Everyone deserves to feel heard, understood and a little lighter by sharing the weight of their thoughts so it's important to me that I allow space for this, without expecting clients to be able to articulate these in a way that makes sense to us.

My clients often engage in talking therapy, although I often invite clients of any age to engage in some creative therapies to help them understand their thoughts, experiences and inner self a bit better. This is done by creating a safe space to allow this exploration to take place, while helping them work through past and present experiences that may be impacting them in a negative way.

My approach to counselling is integrative. This means the type of counselling/psychotherapy is completely dependant on clients needs and preference. From talking therapy including CBT, to therapeutic art or play for kids, each client is an individual and therefore their counselling should be individually tailored for them.

My qualifications include a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy, a Master's Degree in Child and Adolescent Counselling and Psychotherapeutic Skills, and a Post-Grad Cert in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice.

If you are reading this, you are looking for help. That’s not something to be ashamed of, everyone needs help from time to time. My counselling service is completely professional, confidential and non-judgemental,  aimed at creating a safe space for a client to explore their thoughts, worries and past experiences to make sense of these and help them to move forward.

The first session is the assessment. This means it is an information gathering session, rather than a therapeutic one. During the assessment I ask questions regarding the presenting issues, get background information, complete consent/confidentiality forms, and so on.

If you are an adult looking for counselling, this session is completed one to one, and usually takes about 45 minutes. For children, the assessment is completed with the parent(s)/caregiver(s) and will take 45 mins. For teenagers the assessment can be completed with the teenager on their own, the parent/caregiver on their own, or both the teenager and parent/caregiver can complete the assessment together depending on what they prefer and are most comfortable with.