Barry Cooper

I have availability midweeks for face-to-face and can also offer early mornings or evenings. Please contact me with your exact requirements.

I have a lot of experience supporting people who experience lost time (dissociation) and flashbacks, who self-harm and feel like they are not always in control of their actions. I am comfortable (although still concerned) to hear if you feel like you don't want to be here any more. I aim to be respectful, gentle, and we'll approach these issues at a safe pace. We can get through this together.

Your emotional safety is paramount. I invite you to have a free chat of up to 30 minutes on the phone or a video call to decide if I "feel right" for you. Everyone is different and it is for you to decide if I can give you what you need right now.

My Training 

As well as my core BACP training in Humanistic Counselling and my previous extensive experience and training in the Person Centred Approach, I have taken lots of training courses on working with trauma, spent a long time supporting people on the phone, and am currently training in Gestalt Psychotherapy. I constantly work on my skills and knowledge and am totally committed to this work and my clients.

I believe being grounded in the here and now is essential to being able to deal with whatever came before (the stuff that is still impacting you on a daily basis). I focus on helping you notice what is going on for you, and using your existing resources and strategies to work for you.

We work together, I am present in the relationship with you, but the focus is on what is going on for you. You won't be talking to a wall when you are with me: I aim for you to feel connected, and NOT alone.

Often you hear Person-Centred/Humanistic approaches have the therapist not saying much or just nodding. This is NOT my style: I also draw on Pre-Therapy and Focussing in order to ground us both and identify emotions. 

It takes a while to get to know someone. So the first session is for you to talk, and ask questions. I expect as a minimum you will feel lighter for having spoken to me about what's going on for you, although you may get lasting relief too. 

My approach is humanistic, which is about the relationship and the experience rather than numbers or changing your thoughts by force. That said, I will invite you to do a quick (10 question or so) self-assessment, every six sessions or so, in order for us to be able to look back on how you are experiencing life.