Edward Hewitt-Symonds

I have current availability for sessions across mornings, afternoons and early evening from Tuesday to Thursday.

I understand the difficulties and anxieties in working through challenges and issues on your own, issues which may be starting to affect your personal life, relationships, work or more specific issues such as bereavement, relationship issues such as separation or divorce, or work related issues such as stress, redundancy or retirement.

You may be hoping that whatever the challenges facing you, that these just sort themselves out on their own, while continuing to live a life of quiet desperation.

You may find asking for help is something you have never done before, and in this you are not alone, and taking that first courageous step to reach out and ask for help may be your first step on a journey to working through these challenges and towards the life you want and hope for.

You are looking for reassurance and someone who wants to try to understand you, not judge you, who is willing to listen, and not offer off-the-shelf solutions, and recognises that you are a unique individual who may be going through a difficult time in your life but one who I always believe can find the strength within you to come through the challenges life sometimes throws at us all.

Counselling can be the first step towards finding the right path for you, to get to a place which feels safer and enables you to live the life you want.

My counselling practice combines person-centred and humanistic approaches but the core of this is built around offering a safe and secure relationship, and one in which you will feel able to share challenging thoughts, emotions and feelings, which will be received with respect, understanding and acceptance.

I work with a wide range of adult clients aged from 18 to 80, from many backgrounds. None of us are immune from challenges which may affect us at any point in our life, some of which sometimes require some support to help you to move forward.

I do not work with children or young people, so anyone under the age of 18, but can point you in the direction of colleagues who do work specifically with this age range of clients.

I do have a specific interest around working with those transitions in our lives, from one stage to another, such as job changes, perhaps losing a job through redundancy, or for other reasons.

This can also include changes in relationships, such as life after divorce or moving on from a long term relationship, and I have worked successfully with clients coming out of narcissistic relationships.

I also have a particular interest in working with clients looking towards retirement, or who have retired and suddenly find life full of challenges and uncertainty which were never there when they were in work. Many individuals plan for their financial future post-retirement but give little or no thought to what retirement means for them on a very personal and emotional level.

Jobs and relationships are important in giving us a sense of who we are. If this is taken away from you, for whatever reason, it may feel like a part of your identity has been lost,  and for some clients this has been a difficult challenge to make sense of, not so much what has happened but who am I now after this?

I understand you may be feeling nervous or uncertain about starting counselling so before we agree to book a first session, I encourage all potential clients to telephone me, to see whether counselling is right for you right now, or whether some other form of support might be more appropriate; there is no charge for this initial telephone conversation.

I do not normally use assessment forms, and it is not necessary to bring anything with you. Sometimes clients do bring things they wish to share, something you have written or read, something you might have drawn or photographed, maybe something you have picked up like a rock or shell, especially if you feel it might help you explain a feeling or help you to explore an issue you are facing.