Ruth O'Connor

I'm available for in-person and online appointments Monday-Friday year-round (aside from statutory holidays and annual leave, for which I'll provide plenty of notice). Get in touch to see if I have a session available that will work with your schedule. I'll always try to find you an appointment slot promptly if you need one.

Life can be overwhelming at times and it’s hard to know what to do for the best. The Covid era has been a really strange time that’s tested relationships, problematised goals, brought great suffering, loss and anxiety, and made even straightforward decisions and plans feel impossible to resolve. Even aside from recent events, it’s so rare in our day-to-day lives to have chance to pause, reflect, and explore what we want and what the blocks might be to getting it.

In sessions I hope to provide a warm, confidential, non-judgmental space where you’ll always be seen, heard, believed and accepted, whatever you want to talk about. I’ll always trust that you know best and believe that how you feel matters. I start sessions in the here-and-now as that’s where we live, but I recognise things from the past can cast shadows in the present so I’m always open to helping you draw out whatever’s on your mind too, if that’s what you want.

Clients have described working with me as everything from “life-changing” and “eye-opening” to “challenging” and “refreshing.” I always advise that to a certain extent, the work will go as deep as you want it to. You’re in charge of what material you bring to sessions and I’ll never push you to explore any subjects or experiences you prefer not to. You’re the expert on yourself and I’ll always want to hear what you think, how you feel, and what’s important to you.

I approach all client work with a spirit of curiosity and an open heart: I love to listen and to interact, and I’m prepared to reflect and adjust the ways in which we engage therapeutically based on anything you want to share. I’ll always tell you what I think, in the hope of offering as much transparency, honesty and empathy as I can.

I’m an experienced person-centred counsellor working in the NHS, in a GP Practice. I established and now run a person-centred counselling service in a GP Practice in Manchester, which I kept open throughout the Covid era. I offer counselling in-person, via Zoom/WhatsApp Video and by telephone, depending on what best suits you. I’ve engaged with people from every imaginable walk of life over the years, both for short-term solutions-focused work and, at times, over much longer periods.

I will always offer congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard, the Core Conditions which are central to person-centred counselling. I discovered early in my training that the core conditions closely resemble how I’ve always tried to meet others as I move through the world. In the therapy room I hope to learn to stand alongside you, seeing what you see, listening to how you say you feel and developing a sense, through being present in our sessions, of what would count as success or improvement for you.

I focus on person-centred counselling because it is fundamentally optimistic about people. However lost, confused, lonely, sad, uncertain or guilty you might currently feel, I believe all people do have the capacity to find a way through their current challenges to a brighter future, with the right support.

I find people bring great reserves of courage and determination to sessions, even if they don’t see it themselves at first. I’m constantly reminded of the resilience and commitment to trying to make a new beginning that I learn about in the people I meet. I start every therapeutic relationship holding respect and admiration towards a client who has already overcome as-yet-untold obstacles to be in the room with me that day.

I have a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and am an Accredited Member of the BACP. I’m fully insured and engage in regular training and monthly clinical supervision to oversee and enrich my practice.

I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute session to new clients, to give us both a chance to explore anything that would help you decide whether you feel you want to work with me. Hour-long sessions are from £50 per hour, usually weekly though I am open to agreeing other intervals if that would suit you better.

For in-person work I have a wheelchair-accessible room in an NHS clinic, which has other accessible amenities such as adapted toilets and lifts. I want everyone who feels they would benefit from counselling to be able to access it and am determined to offer any reasonable adjustments possible to support people to do that, so in first sessions I'll welcome hearing about any access needs you may have.