John Shurmer

I am currently available to see new clients.

I work flexibly across morning, daytime and evening sessions (8am to 8pm).

Feel free to get in touch to discuss what might work best for you. 

I'm John, an integrative counsellor available for sessions face to face in Sevenoaks & online across the UK. I work from therapy rooms in central Sevenoaks.

I am a registered member of the BACP with a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. I provide counselling for men and women navigating life, change and transition. Alongside private work I am a volunteer counsellor with Mind.

I understand that sometimes life can become difficult in ways we don't fully understand. You might be experiencing anxiety or stress, finding it hard to balance family and work pressures or be experiencing difficulties in important relationships in your life. You may feel exhausted or burned out or be questioning your confidence and purpose. Perhaps you simply recognise that something in your life needs to change. If this resonates, I can help.

I am also passionate about men's mental health. Many men find it difficult to say when they're struggling. There can be a strong pressure to cope, stay in control and deal with things. If this connects, we can explore what might be useful for you. I also have experience of counselling 14+ adolescent boys in a school setting, and I am available to work with young adults.

You don’t have to have it all figured out before you start and regardless of what brings you to counselling, we start with you, and work together on what would be most helpful.

Sessions are 50 minutes long and take place in person or online over Zoom.

I offer sessions on both a long- or short-term basis¸ either taking an open-ended approach or working within a fixed amount of sessions. A counselling contract will be agreed in our initial sessions, including what you would like to achieve through counselling.

Starting counselling can be a big step and finding the right counsellor is important. My approach is warm, collaborative and relationship focused. I won't tell you how you should live your life or try to fit you into a particular psychological category. I'm active and present in sessions and offer thoughts and reflections where appropriate and helpful.

As an integrative counsellor I draw on many ideas, models and approaches. I don't believe in just one way, rather I believe in finding the right approach for you. As well as what is happening in your life now, I also work psychodynamically looking at your earlier life experiences, and how these fit into your story offering you insight and clarity.

I continuously to develop myself as a counsellor. I have completed training in Trauma Informed Counselling and Internal Family Systems and will shortly commence a Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling. 

If you would like to find out whether working together might be right for you, you're welcome to get in touch via email. Just leave a short message and your contact details. 

I'll get back to you to arrange an initial 30-minute conversation by telephone, where we will discuss what you would like to achieve and I will share a little more about myself and my approach. This is free of charge.

If you feel that we are a good fit, then we can organise a first session and take it from there.