Penny Smith

Please contact to check my availability as it changes frequently. 

So a little about me. I`m Penny, I`m warm, friendly, down to earth, and a deeply caring Psychotherapist. I work long or short term with adults confidentially, face to face, online and also provide telephone counselling. 

I am experienced with a vast array of complex client issues. I have confidence that my clients will and can have wonderful life changing results. It’s humbling and a privilege to be able to experience a client walk in feeling desperately hopeless but leave therapy feeling more able to look forward to life again. 

I offer a free 15-20 assessment and also first 30 min  zoom/telephone therapy session free of charge to help you decide if you feel I would be the right counsellor for you. Sessions thereafter are 50 mins.

I work using different modalities to suit each individual client`s needs and specialise in the following-

Psycho-dynamic and Psychoanalytic Therapy.

Humanistic

Gestalt

Transactional Analysis 

C.B.T.

I am personally a huge advocate of therapy! Why? Because I am a survivor of trauma.

I once was in a position of feeling hopeless, desperate to feel normal and happy.

I hope to inspire you as a testament to counselling and to feel there is hope.

​I would like to share with you that through my own therapy over 25 years ago I now have a happy and fulfilling contented life. I became a Counsellor as I knew first hand how powerful therapy can be and I wanted to share this with others who like me were feeling desperate and hopeless.

I consider my strengths to be I can connect more deeply to a clients life story and extend my compassion, empathy and understanding.

I appreciate that therapy is expensive and not everyone is able to afford to stay in therapy possibly as long as would be most effective. Please feel reassured that I work ethically and will ensure there is enough time to explore the issues you feel you would like to safely.

 I will block book 6 sessions, we will review every 6 weeks and thereafter to review how the therapy is going, to discuss re-booking or plan an ending. 

Here a little more information regarding types of therapy I offer.

Psycho dynamic therapy

Psycho dynamic therapy looks into a clients past from earliest memories to find links and patterns with issues which can be attributed to or from any point in their life history.

​Many clients see incredible results using this theory. Long term therapy is better suited as unravelling difficult issues in someone's life must be done with great care at a slower pace. It can also be used as a short term tool used integrated with other modalities. During childhood and into adulthood if the real self is suppressed, someone’s potential is not reached.

We can also take on unresolved issues from previous generations. 

​TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

T/A therapy can help you understand how we and why we communicate and how better to do so. 

​HUMANISTIC THERAPY

A humanistic approach therapy provides an atmosphere of support, empathy, and trust in which an individual can share their feelings without fear of judgment. The direction of sessions is determined by the client and their concerns in the moment as the expert on their own life and challenges.

GESTALT

Gestalt therapy is an approach that helps clients focus on the present to understand what is actually happening in their lives at this moment, and how it makes them feel in the moment, rather than what they may assume to be happening based on past experience. The Empty Chair 

​CBT

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) aims to help you identify and explore the ways your emotions and thoughts can affect your actions. Once you notice these patterns, you can begin learning how to change your behaviour's and develop new coping strategies.

If you haven't had counselling before or even if you have but find meeting new people difficult I want you to know that I have a natural ability to make clients feel safe, calm and relaxed, even the most nervous !  

I remember how I once felt from my own first-hand personal experience. 

Here`s a little about our  pre-first session and first session .

So the first thing would be to ensure we feel we are a good match and that our availability works before any precious personal details are shared. 

With your permission I will do an approx 15-30 minute free telephone assessment to ensure that I am the best person to help you and to ethically ensure I am working within my proficiency. If we are all good to continue I will send you a contract to sign via email/post/ and we can then start therapy.