Michael Walker

I currently offer face to face, telephone or online sessions. We can discuss your preferences when making your appointment. 

I qualified as a counsellor in 2007 and became accredited with the BACP in 2010. My life experience also includes lived experience  (and work experience) of Depression, Anxiety, Addiciton and ADHD. My practice is also informed by neuroscience training in order to make sense of the above conditions and 'disorders'.

I am currently offering face to face, telephone or online video sessions.

Sometimes clients just want to know what is happening in their life and this is enough for them at this point in time. Others might want to explore the issues deeper which may be a longer term piece of work.

There are so many life events which can lead us down these paths - Bereavement and Grief, loss of self, loss of meaning, relationship difficulties amongst many. I help people identify the feelings they have and make sense of their meaning.

I provide a safe place to explore these aspects and tools to help manage the symptoms and come to terms with the challenges the events bring us. I am aware of the effects of childhood trauma and work to help my clients make sense of a world that has often become challenging and confusing.

Safety is at the heart of my practice and approach. I provide a confidential, safe, non-judgemental approach to helping people.

The technical phrase, for what I provide, is Integrative counselling. I integrate different models of therapy depending on the need of my clients. I work from a Person-Centred base, which means I strive to understand your reality from your perspective. I also use Transactional Analysis (TA) to help identify issues in interpersonal relationships (person to person), and Intrapersonal (the relationship you have with yourself). 

My role is to try to understand your experiences and help you identify feelings associated to these. This can be challenging!!

 Having lived experience of mental health and having therapy I can appreciate the benefits of talking to a person who is not going to judge you. Quite often we judge ourselves before others do e.g. ‘I’m stupid’, ‘No one likes me’, ‘I’m bad’. If you’re feeling anxious a lot of the time, I will help you identify what is causing this and what feelings might be lying behind it. Often anxiety hides feelings as we may never have been taught healthy ways to communicate and process them

I also have a wealth of knowledge & experiences which informs my practice which can be used to help you understand the issues you face.

My practice is also informed by neuroscience training in order to make sense of the common issues, conditions and 'disorders'.

I work on being flexible around appointments and provide this service to people in the East Cleveland, and wider Teesside area, face to face, online or telephone.

I can provide a free 15-minute consultation to find out more about your needs.  

I have worked with students learning about counselling as part of their ongoing personal and professional development.

The first session is about having a confidential conversation to see what your needs are. Some people may call this an assessment.

The conversation will be aimed at understanding your current situation, any history of therapy, mental/physical health diagnosis or medication.

It is important that we know you can keep safe whilst we have therapy as it is more likely that uncomfortable feelings may increase as therapy takes place and we may need to discuss and agree a safety plan.

We may also discuss any external support that have (family, friends, neighbours, colleagues) to ensure this can be utilised to help support you on your journey.

I appreciate and honour the need for confidentiality and understand this is something you may not be comfortable in talking to other about which we can explore if needed.

As part of this conversation we may also look at immediate techniques to help bring a sense of balance in life. 

You can then decide if you feel you would like to continue.