Lauren Pennycott

My practice hours are on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and Friday mornings. I am have some limited availability at the moment for online or in person sessions.

Hello, my name is Lauren and I offer person-centred counselling.

Deciding to engage with counselling can feel big. You may be feeling overwhelmed by what you’re facing, you might have a sense that something isn’t right but find it hard to put into words, you may just want to get to know yourself better. I hope to meet you where you are and for us to attend to what you’re needing, together.

My approach to counselling is informed by Person-Centred theory. I am a member of the BACP and adhere to their ethical framework for counselling practice. I work in a non-directive way with my clients, which in practice means I will be guided by what you want to talk about each session.

Talking about your feelings may not be easy at first, especially if they feel knotted up, unclear or inaccessible. But I believe that, given the right environment, people have the ability to self heal. I hope that by building a non judgemental, empathic and genuine connection with you, our counselling relationship can allow you to encounter yourself with empathy and curiosity.

I will work to build a relationship with you where you feel safe enough to explore your thoughts and feelings and find ways forward which feel right for you. Through working together, I hope to support you to untangle some of your experience and help you to feel a bit clearer.

It can be tricky to get a sense of a person from a short written description but I hope that this gives some sense of how I aim to work with my clients.

If you would like to meet me to see if we’d be a good fit, you can book a free, 15 minute consultation by emailing

laurenpennycott.counselling@gmail.com.

Sessions cost £55.00 as standard. I do have some capacity to offer a sliding scale for clients who feel the fee is a barrier to accessing counselling. Please email me if you'd like to discuss a reduced rate. 

What can I expect in a first session?

In our first session I will explain some important aspects and boundaries of counselling such as confidentiality and explain a little bit about myself and how my approach shapes how I work in counselling. You will have the opportunity to talk about what it is that’s bringing you to counselling, if that has not yet been covered in a consultation, and what you’d like to work on.

Sessions are 50 minutes long and we usually will meet weekly or fortnightly.

We will have regular reviews of the work we are doing together and I will check in with you to see how you are finding counselling. I offer both short term (a fixed number of sessions) as well as open ended therapy. Which feels most appropriate for you is something we can discuss together at the start of our work and this can also be reviewed.

Online Working

If we are meeting on Zoom, you’ll need a phone, laptop or tablet with enough charge for each 50 minute session. Once I have received payment from you, I will send through the link for you to join the session from.

It is important with working online that you have a safe and private space to join from where you feel able to speak freely and are unlikely to be disturbed. I will be joining our sessions from my private counselling room and I will be using headphones to maximise privacy.