Stuart Melvin

I am available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays, including early evenings. I will, however, have some flexibility to enable me to work outside of these times where necessary.

You can meet with me at my consultation room at my home in Westbury on Trym, Bristol, or I can offer online consultations using Google Meet or Zoom to allow you the convenience of working with me within the context of your wider life.

Westbury on Trym, Bristol, BS10 5BL (near Southmead hospital)

Parking available on site.

My current fees are £75 per session and the fees are the same face to face or through online sessions.

Counsellor, Psychotherapist, NLP Coach.

I am a highly experienced Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Coach, Trainer and Consultant with 27 years of continuing experience working within both the NHS ( CAMHS) and other services within the fields of adult and adolescent mental health and well-being using diverse therapeutic interventions.

Since 1996, I have worked in various therapeutic contexts and disciplines, including with adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years, their parents and families as well as with adults with various mental health issues. For the past 17 years I have worked within the NHS in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) as a therapist, consultant, trainer and service developer. I have experience working both as a therapist within the field of mental health, and as an educational mental health consultant for secondary schools. 

I have also worked in the field of child and adult counselling provision in a multitude of disciplines including specialist young people’s counselling services, adult and young person's addiction treatment services, criminal Justice and in the Looked After Children sector. 

My Training and Experience

Over the past 27 years I have developed a highly evolved integrative therapeutic practice that uses various modes of psychotherapeutic intervention, including Person Centred Rogerian therapy, Psychodynamic Formulation and Counselling, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Neuro Linguistic Programming and Coaching, Solution-Focused Therapy, Mediation and Conflict resolution (qualified Mediator and Restorative Justice Practitioner and Trainer since 2004).

I am also qualified to Master Practitioner Level in the discipline of Neuro Linguistic Programming and am a qualified NLP Coach. I am currently training to support my registration as an NLP/Hypnotherapist.

I am also a qualified Parenting Trainer and have run Parenting Courses within the community.

For more information see website stuartmelvin.co.uk

What to expect

How I work?

I use an integrative approach to working as it allows me the luxury of using different theoretical and practical therapeutic models. This offers my clients the opportunity of working with an approach that best suits their needs. I work in a bespoke manner, thinking creatively and reflectively to consider which approach will resonate most effectively with my clients, taking into consideration Age, Gender, Sexuality, Culture, Socio-Economic Status, Disabilities, Religion and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices.

Approach

As a Therapist, I use evidence-based therapies within my practice. As previously illustrated, I am trained and well versed in a wide range of therapeutic modalities and work in a collaborative and culturally-sensitive way in order to create a powerful therapeutic relationship, something that is recognised as being the most crucial factor in positive therapeutic outcomes.

I am able to work with you over the short or long term, focusing primarily on present and future-orientated treatment, but with the opportunity to explore your past and how this can programme the conscious and unconscious minds to have a powerful bearing on your life today, both positive and negative.

Specific issues can also be selectively treated if you want to focus on managing issues that have become problematic and are acting as an obstacle to your life moving forward.

As a clinician, I have extensive experience of completing assessments, formulations and interventions for most mental health disorders, including complex psychological, emotional and behavioural presentations. Working for 17 years in a multi-disciplinary environment within the NHS has afforded me wide experience and perspective of medical, systemic and family, individual, group, psychological and behavioural disciplines.

Working together

At the initial session together we can work out what you want and what you would like to achieve in your time working with me. We can then agree on which method of working will support you to achieve your vision of what you would like your life to look like at the end of our work together.

I have a range of ways of assessing what you will need using both discussion, assessment, formulation and questionnaires to support interventions using your data to outline specific issues and trends. This will help us to focus on identifying key areas of your life that you want to work on.

Summarising:

With so much experience of reflective practice I would look to utilise all, or some, of the approaches that I have previously mentioned,  to create a format that will work for you. Everyone responds and benefits from different approaches to therapy. There is no one size fits all, hence the benefit of my experience in a multitude of disciplines. 

We will be focused on the present, but we can explore the option of reviewing the influence of your past, what unconscious patterns may be influencing your present day beliefs and actions. This will permit you greater freedom to make choices that are more aligned to your values and in line with your wishes, goals and intentions. In short, therapy can help you understand why you do what you do, whilst giving you the option to doing something different if it is helpful and desirable.

Conditions and issues I work with, but not exclusively, are:

Generalised Anxieties and Fears

Panic attacks

Phobias 

Obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals (OCD)

Body Dysmorphia

Health anxiety

Low Mood states:

Depression and Low mood

Emotional Difficulties

Anger (assertiveness),

Emotional dysregulation

Self esteem and confidence

Trauma; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD

Pain and physical health

Addictions

Working with Neuro-Diverse Young People ASC ADHD etc

Coaching and Counselling to support both adults and young people in their personal Development