Katy Oswald

Sessions are in person near Fiveways in Brighton, or online - UK and Worldwide

I am a calm, grounded and considered counsellor. I will be empathetic and honest with you, holding up a mirror and getting curious about what we find, I can help you identify blind spots and connections you might not be aware of. 

I can help with:

Life transitions & changes

Mid-life transitions such as, experiencing peri-menopause symptoms and the menopause, career change, divorce, and children leaving home. In later life, dealing with aging and death anxiety. Regardless of where you are in your life, you might be experiencing a loss of meaning and purpose and we can explore how this has happened and how it can be found again.

Understanding and managing emotions

Support to understand and manage emotions, including anxiety, fear, overwhelm, anger, stress, sadness, and numbness (an absence of feeling). Often how we feel about feelings can get in the way of understanding and managing those emotions. I can support you to identify how you feel, and explore how to manage and respond to emotions you find challenging.

Feelings of low self-worth

This may include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, feelings of hopelessness or being lost. You may feel disconnected from your needs, feelings or desires. You may be feeling shame and guilt and be engaging in self-sabotage or feeling that you can’t cope. I will not judge you for feeling this way, and we can start to explore where these feelings come from, and what might be underneath.

Relationship Difficulties

Family dynamics and intimate relationships, the challenges of dating, relational co-dependency, difficulties with boundaries, avoidance and fear of intimacy, and loneliness and isolation. I can help you to reflect on your relationship patterns and how these might be contributing and how they can be transformed.

Living with chronic illness

Chronic pain, fatigue and the impairments chronic illness can bring. I provide an empathic and accepting space to explore how to live with chronic illness.  

Sessions might include:

· Bringing awareness to the thoughts, feelings and the behaviours that effect your experience of life and your relationship with others.

· Identifying the stories you tell yourself or your internal self-talk (especially the inner critic) and making links with how this impacts your experience, feelings and behaviour.

· Noticing coping mechanisms and what they might be protecting or avoiding.

· Working creatively and to access deeper or unseen parts of yourself. Working with images, creative writing, poetry, metaphors, drawing, dreams, music, and parts work.

· Working with your body. For example, inviting you to notice what you are experiencing in your body, as well as your thoughts and feelings.

I will always work at a pace that is right for you, with empathy, honesty and integrity.

My qualifications:

I have a PGDip in Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling from the University of Brighton, and I am an accredited member of the BACP. I have a certificate in Creative Supervision.

I also have a BSocSci in Politics and Philosophy, and a MPhil in Development Studies.

My Experience

I have over a decade of experience as a counsellor, and trainer of counsellors. I work in private practice and previously worked for a low-cost counselling charity. I am an Associate Lecturer in counselling and mental health at the Open University, and I teach counselling at the University of Brighton. I am also a counselling supervisor.

Previous to training as a counsellor, I worked as a social science lecturer and researcher at the University of Sussex for 12 years.

I adopt a feminist approach to counselling and acknowledge the role power and patriarchy plays in the roles we play and how we feel about ourselves. 

Book a free 50-minute free initial consultation session.

Starting therapy is a significant decision; it involves a commitment and can feel daunting. You need to find a counsellor who you can trust and feel safe with. Therefore, I offer a free initial consultation so you can decide if I am the right counsellor for you

This is a chance for us to meet, for you to experience the way I work and ask any questions. It also helps me understand what has led you to seek out therapy.

Fees:

£65 per session.

Frequency of sessions:

I offer both short-term (8 sessions) and medium to long term counselling. Sessions are weekly. You can choose to finish at any time. 

I am a Humanistic supervisor, providing supervision to trainees, newly qualified, and experienced counsellors, mental health practitioners, and the caring professions.

Sessions can either take place in person in my room near Fiveways in Brighton, or online.

My approach to supervision:

Supervision is reflection-in-action, and it is where I feel most at home. Before I trained to be a counsellor, and then a supervisor, I taught reflective practice in the social sciences for over a decade.

I use the seven-eyed model of supervision. This model focuses on seven perspectives – with an eye on the client; the interventions; the client-therapist relationship; the therapist; the therapist-supervisor relationship; the supervisor; and the wider context. 

Supervisory sessions might cover:

Bringing awareness to the thoughts, feelings and assumptions that might be effecting your therapeutic relationships and our supervisory relationship;

Identifying areas of risk or safeguarding concerns and agreeing on action.

Critical self-reflection on areas of growth - learning from mistakes.

Identifying blinds spots and noticing what you might not be bringing to supervision.

Your restorative needs to maintain resilience and avoid burnout.

Working creatively, with images, creative writing, poetry, metaphors, drawing, dreams, music, and parts work.

Working with your body. For example, inviting you to notice what you are experiencing in your body, as well as your thoughts and feelings.

Personal development and growing your practice.

My Experience and Qualifications:

I have a Certificate in Creative Supervision. I am BACP Accredited, and have a decade of experience in counselling. I have a PGDip in Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling from the University of Brighton, and I draw on theory from Person-Centred, Gestalt, Existential and Transactional Analysis therapies. 

I am process-focused, and work relationally with clients and supervisees. My supervision training had a strong focus on creativity, and I use creative methods with clients and supervisees to support their reflection.

As well as being a counsellor and supervisor, I am an experienced teacher with over two decades of teaching experience in the social sciences, counselling and psychology. 

I currently teach on the ‘Introduction to the therapeutic relationship and counselling skills’ module at the University of Brighton, and I am an Associate Lecturer in counselling and mental health at the Open University.  

Please get in touch with me if you would like to have an introductory session with me. I offer this for £35, which is half the cost of a normal 50-minute session.

Fees are: £65 for a 50-minute session (twice a month) or £100 for a 120-minute session (once a month)

We can meet online, via Zoom, or in-person in my room near Fiveways in Brighton.