Janis Irving-Proctor

I have availability during the following times for new clients:

Monday evening

Tuesday evening

Thursday afternoon

Thursday evening

However, do ask and I may be able to accommodate you at other times.  

Hi, I’m Janis, founder of Breathe Counselling, I offer therapy to those in my community of Bangor/ North Down and further afield.

Breathe represents a space where people can take time to come back to who they are in a grounding, authentic and safe way.

I am an integrative counsellor which means that we can work together to decide on what approach will work best for you.  That might include Person centred approaches, use of Psychoeducation, Compassionate enquiry and elements of Cognitive behavioural therapy and Acceptance and Commitment therapy.  

I have over 25 years experience working with children and families within statutory and voluntary services, primarily within Youth Justice. Qualified to post graduate level in Counselling, Youth work, Restorative practises with additional training in Substance misuse, Trauma and Neurodivergence.

Young people: Friendship fall-outs, conflict with parents, exam pressures, neurodivergence and social media all play their part to make life as a teenager today seem like a lot to contend with. As well as this finding your own identity in a changing world is tough. 

Adults: Life’s pressures can sometimes feel overwhelming. Anxiety, relationship struggles and late diagnosed neurodivergence all bring their challenges. Maybe you are struggling as a parent of a child with special needs or have care experience. I work in a grounded compassionate way to support you to meet your potential and identify unhelpful patterns.

I can provide a safe space for you to explore all of this at a pace to suit you. I will not rush you or ask you to cover anything you don’t wish to and I believe in working with the whole person – mind, body and spirit to bring about genuine, lasting healing and change. I'd love to hear from you so reach out and we can chat to see how we could work together.

I offer counselling for young people aged 14+ along with adults. I am a neuro-affirming therapist with both life and professional experience of neurodivergence. I have significant experience working with Care experienced people. I am an integrative Counsellor and qualified Youth worker and use approaches including Compassionate enquiry and Hypnotherapy.

I offer a free initial phone or web call to chat about what has brought you to counselling and outline how we could work together.  After this you are under no obligation to book a longer session but if you decide to do so I will then send you over a short form to fill in and we can agree when suits you best to meet.

At the first session we will work with whatever you bring.  I do not carry out a formal assessment, rather over the first few sessions we will discover together what approaches might work best for you and your unique circumstances.