Stephen O'Connor

I am taking on new clients. My working hours are Wednesday through Friday and I can see clients at the weekend. 

I am a person centred counsellor which means my focus is on your experience and how you see the world. You are the window through which we look at your mental health. I am not here to fix you or give you advice.

My job is to help you get a better view of yourself and through that awareness see if things change and your symptoms (if you have any) shift. 

I can create a safe environment for you to explore issues that might feel difficult to talk about anywhere else. Everything you say is confidential, there is no judgement and hopefully over time you can grow to trust the space and relationship.

I have experience working with addictions including 12 step recovery. I am familiar with how trauma is often at the root of addictions. If you are worried about your drinking or other behaviours I can help you begin to understand what might be beneath it. Using alcohol or drugs is often a coping mechanism for something else.

I am interested in neurodiversity and the different experiences people have. Not all minds are the same, and understanding differences can be really helpful and powerful.

I believe relationships define what it means to be in the world and to be human. But relationships are difficult and often a key source of suffering and poor mental health. I can help you see how your relationships work (or not) and how you might think about changing them.

I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Cumbria and a Certificate in Humanistic Counselling Skills from the Gestalt Centre in London. 

I am currently in training as a sex therapist, studying for a Diploma in Psychosexual Psychotherapy at the Institute of Psychosexual Psychotherapy in Nottingham.

I worked in design consulting for many years, helping businesses bring products and services to market. I have a lot of experience managing teams and business relationships with commercial clients.

I am based in Thame, Oxfordshire. 

I work in person or online. 

In person, I use therapy rooms in Thame or Oxford and I would book a room in advance for us to meet. 

I can work on a fixed number of sessions or in an open ended arrangement. I would normally recommend a minimum of six sessions. 

As a person centred counsellor I don't bring an agenda to sessions. However, it is fine for you to have one. I can work with whatever issues you want to bring to sessions.

If I feel like the issues you have would be better handled by a different type of therapy I will tell you about this. 

My privacy policy is on my website and I comply with the GDPR for the handing of your personal data. 

I can offer a free introductory session for 30 minutes either as a phone call or online using Microsoft Teams. 

In this session we can find out a little bit about each other and you can get a feel for whether you would like to work with me. 

If we do decide to work together, I would ask you to sign a Counselling Agreement and provide some basic Personal Information. 

We would then agree a regular time and place to meet which would ideally be weekly.

If you require home visits, we can discuss this in the introductory call.