Michael Sims

I am a Dr of Psychotherapy, and a Lecturer/Coordinator at Southampton City College on the BA (Hons) in Person-Centred Counselling & Psychotherapy, and the Award Leader for the MA in Counselling & Psychotherapy at Bath Spa University. I have had many years experience working with people from all walks of life. I trained in an approach developed back in the 1950's by the Humanistic Psychologist Carl Rogers, known as Person-Centred Therapy.

I offer a relational therapy based in a genuine, understanding and accepting climate, striving and respecting clients in their entirety. I believe it is through this relationship that clients can find the resources and answers to their issues and troubles. This in turn can potentially build confidence and a sense of empowerment within the client leading to greater feelings of self-worth.

I am an Accredited registered member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy MBACP (Accred), adhering to their ethical framework to ensure professional conduct and equality, which I believe assists in creating confidence and assurance in the relationship.

For self-healing to occur in clients, the relationship between the therapist and the client is the key - and it is this key - that can help unlock the client's potential for positive growth.

The use of the title Dr in this directory listing relates to the member’s doctorate qualification. However, this does not imply a general medical qualification.

I am a qualified supervisor and work on either a one-to-one basis or within a group, depending on preference and availability.

The supervision I offer is based within a relational framework. I'm qualified in humanistic, existential and CBT approaches; although I am happy to work with counsellors and psychotherapists from any approach, as I see the supervisory relationship as a collaborative relationship grounded in a genuine, professional and ethical space of practice.

I am experienced at working with qualified counsellors and supervisors, and also trainees, as I work within the educational sphere of psychotherapy.

Being a Dr of Psychotherapy & Philosophy, I draw on a vast knowledge base and experiential life experience to help inform my relational working. My main aim is to establish a trusting relationship that is both challenging and supportive, underpinned with mutual openness, respect and understanding. I've found that this then enables supervision to be an empowering experience for the counsellor and a place where s/he feels able to explore any areas of concern or difficulty, in the knowledge that the purpose of the work is to assist in counsellor development, focusing on ethical, professional and personal practice.

In simple terms this means helping supervisees to explore general case work or specific ethical issues, with a view to finding a way forward that has both the client and counsellor’s safety and well-being at the heart of the client/counsellor relationship.

My fees:

one-to-one supervision - £70 for 1.5 hours

group supervision (max 4 participants) - £40 each for 3 hours

reduced rate for students - £40 for one-to-one, £30 each for group

The use of the title Dr in this directory listing relates to the member’s doctorate qualification. However, this does not imply a general medical qualification.