Kate McAndrew

My availability is Tuesday - Thursday daytimes.

I am a fully qualified, professionally insured, BACP and UKCP registered counsellor and pychotherapist and have been practising in the Nottinghamshire area for over 15 years.

I offer counselling and psychotherapy for individuals and couples and have specific experience of working with relationship issues.

I offer short term counselling aimed at relief of immediate difficulties often associated with particular transitions in life and which can include problem management; and longer term psychotherapy working towards deeper changes to your sense of self, the way you view the world, and yourself in it. Themes may include relationship issues, bereavement, anger, anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, self-esteem ... or wanting a more meaningful way of living.

I am also a fully trained supervisor, to diploma level, and offer individual and group supervision.

My personal approach is Humanistic and Integrative, based on a positive belief in the potential of human beings. I bring a willingness to meet you where you are, offering you a confidential space to explore and clarify ways of looking at your life, and to support you in discovering new ways of being

I believe that together we can find some insight and clarity to enable you to be everything you can be, both as an individual, and within your relationships. Our aim would be to empower you to make decisions and choices that are right for you, and build a sense of resilience to aid emotional well-being, now and into the future.

As well as working with individuals, I work with couples using a relational-developmental model, focussing on how your individual pasts can impact meaning-making, understanding and expectations within your current relationship. Much of the work is focussed on communication to increase shared understanding and facilitate helpful meaning-making. This is with the aim of facilitating a more supportive and compassionate way of being together in relationship.

Issues often include differences around day-to-day functions such as sharing living space, finances, and parenting. These issues can be even more difficult when trying to manage blended families. Sometimes, navigating the expectations of extended family, or major life changes such as childbirth, illness, job loss etc. can have an impact, as well as working through moving on after infidelity, and the resulting trust issues. And, sometimes couples therapy can be helpful if you feel the spark has gone out of your relationship.

Couples therapy can be helpful in facilitating many kinds of relationships, and is not always aimed at keeping a relationship ongoing, sometimes the work is how to separate well, and manage shared responsibilities in a healthy way, during and after a separation - especially if children are involved.

Individuals - In a first session we would spend some time understanding what your are experiencing, what brings you to therapy, and what you would like to get from it.  This session also allows you to get a sense of whether I would be the right therapist for you, and vice versa.

Couples - Generally speaking, we would start by understanding what each if you is experiencing, and what you would like get from the couples therapy. I hold a belief that there is no absolute truth, and that each of us have an individual experience of, and perspective on, what happens in life - the more we can understand our own, and our partners, feelings and experiences, the more we can care for and support each other.

I offer supervision Tuesday - Thursday daytimes

I offer individual and group supervision to qualified therapists, as well as students in training.

My approach to supervision is integrative which is formed from a humanistic philosophical base, integrating human development and unconscious process theory, to form a relational-developmental model.

What you may need from supervision will be somewhat different depending on where you are in your journey as a therapist. If you are a therapist in training, support, guidance, and education will play a much larger part, along with monitoring and reporting back to your training organisation. Once you are qualified, and with more clinical experience, the relationship can take on a different quality, often more consultative with a developing level of mutuality. No matter how long we have been practicing, there will always something new to learn, a need for support, and a space to explore difficult dynamics.

In addition to offering supervision to the counselling and psychotherapy profession, I also have experience of offering supervision to sign language interpreters.

Exploration within supervision can include any, or all, of the following ‘7-eyed’ foci:

the client’s presentation;

the therapist’s strategies and interventions;

the relationship between the client and the therapist;

the (virtual) relationship between the supervisor and the client;

the supervisee’s own process;

the relationship between the supervisee and the supervisor;

the supervisor’s own process;

the wider cultural and societal context of the work.

As well as bringing individual clients to discuss, you may also wish to explore themes that emerge across your work. This can help to enhance your understanding in certain areas, and lead to engagement with relevant CPD. At times it is also necessary to work through ethical dilemmas, as well as considering onward referral where appropriate. Additionally, when you need emotional support and somewhere to get some nurture and repair for yourself, supervision is a good place to turn. These, and much more, are a part of a supervisory relationship.

An initial supervisory session would be used to explore our suitability to work together, exploring each of our modalities, work contexts, types of clients, boundary issues, frequency and duration of sessions etc.  This session also allows you to gauge whether I would be the right supervisor for you, and vice versa.