Paul Daniel

Face to face sessions currently available on Monday mornings from 8.30am and 10.30am

Zoom sessions also available on Wednesdays and Fridays 

I am a BACP Accredited Counsellor with almost 20 years' experience of helping adults from all kinds of backgrounds with a range of difficulties such as depression, anxiety, stress, low confidence and self-esteem, relationship problems, life crises such as redundancy or divorce and more. 

My original training was as a psychodynamic counsellor. Psychodynamic counselling recognises how influential our past can be on our current lives. Sometimes we find ourselves in difficulty as a result of repeating old and unhealthy or unhelpful patterns. It will be important for us to talk about your life, perhaps going back as far as your childhood, so we can see if your past still has a hold on your present and your future.

Psychodynamic counselling also stresses how important it is to become more aware of ourselves. Neuroscience has proven that much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious processes - that sometimes it seems that, although we are in the driving seat of our lives, someone else is controlling the steering and the direction in which we travel. By helping you to become more aware of yourself I can help you to take more control of your life.

My experience as a teacher has also led to me integrating ideas and approaches from person centred and relational theory. This means that I will listen to you from a non-judgemental stance, accepting you as you are and trying to understand your experience at a deeper level. And I will not be a 'blank screen' as I believe it is sometimes helpful to share with you some of my own reactions and experiences.

Counselling will offer you the time and space to share your story and how you are feeling with an independent person. In 'normal life' it is often hard to find someone who does not: interrupt, try to tell you what to do, change the subject, directs the conversation towards their own agenda. I will listen to you and seek to understand. 

As I listen to you I will always aim to avoid judgement and to see you as a human being worthy of care and love and understanding. Unless I believe that you or anyone you tell me about is at risk of harm, I will keep what you tell me confidential.

I will draw on my training, my experience and my knowledge of counselling theory to help you make sense of your experience.

I will not tell you what to do but I will work with you to enable you to find your own solutions and a way forward from your current difficulties. I do not believe I am an expert in your life - only you can be that. 

My fee for an initial session is £25 (50%).

I can offer monthly or fortnightly supervision either face to face or on Zoom. I am not available on Tuesdays or Thursdays during term time due to my college lecturing commitments. 

My supervision work is based on the Seven Eyed Model as defined by Hawkins and Shohet (2012). This means that I believe it is helpful to explore and think about the internal worlds, conscious and unconscious aspects, communications and relationships between all three roles in counselling and supervision: client, counsellor / supervisee and supervisor.

I base my contributions in supervision on where supervisees 'are' in their development as a counsellor and as an individual. There is a 'teaching' aspect to supervision and for this I draw on my years of teaching counselling students - knowing what might be helpful and how to balance sensitivity and support with challenge.

My original training was psychodynamic but, as a consequence of teaching integrative counselling courses I am able to offer supervision for counsellors working with person centred and relational approaches and more.

I can offer supervision to individuals and groups - see my website for more information on fees.

I am happy to offer a reduced fee for counsellors in training or whose supervision is funded by a charitable organisation or agency.

To help us think about whether and how we might work together, I can offer a free initial meeting to discuss your needs and find out more about each other and our approaches to supervision.