Rachel Freeth

I have been a freelance trainer for many years, mostly delivering workshops for therapists and professionals in allied helping and healing roles.  

Most of my sessions are designed for practitioners interested in learning more about subjects related to psychiatry and mental healthcare, drawing on my professional background as a psychiatrist working in the NHS.  Examples include:

- psychiatric diagnosis

- psychiatric drugs

- recognising and assessing forms of mental disturbance and distress

- working with clients experiencing psychosis

- spiritual dimensions of mental distress

Please see my website (www.rachelfreeth.com) for more details about the training I offer and further information about me.

A particular feature of the training I offer is that, in addition to providing theoretical knowledge, I highlight and explore key debates and alternative viewpoints and approaches to helping and supporting people experiencing mental and emotional disturbance and distress.

Another aim is to encourage participants to reflect on their own attitudes, beliefs, assumptions and ways of thinking in relation to the mainstream psychiatric perspective and culture of mental healthcare in the Western world, and how this influences their own approach and way of being with clients.

I provide 60 minute sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (day time and evening) and Thursday daytime.  My preference is for weekly sessions on a set day and time, but at times it may be possible to see people less frequently, e.g. fortnightly.

Good listeners are rare. Also rare is someone who can listen from a deep and broad understanding. 

I have both a background working within NHS mental health services as a psychiatrist for over 25 years, and as a person-centred therapist for almost the same length of time. Listening has therefore been the core of my working life and it has given me an understanding of the range of hurts, disturbance and distress people can experience, as well as the diverse social and cultural contexts from which these arise.

The therapy I provide is informed by my training in the person-centred approach. This approach assumes that human beings have a natural capacity to grow and develop within favourable conditions and relationships. I therefore place a key emphasis on the quality of the therapeutic relationship, regarding this as a crucial element in healing, and as such I aim to offer a warm understanding (empathy) and authenticity. When this is received people may experience greater self-understanding, acceptance, compassion and a sense of deeper meaning and purpose, from which other transformation may occur. 

To me, therapy at its best is a collaborative, unfolding process in which we share the work together, and I believe in the value of trusting clients to take the lead on what to explore and focus on.

I believe the way I work can be helpful for a wide range of issues, difficulties and forms of distress and I am often able to work with people whose distress and difficulty may be particularly severe and complex. I do not 'treat' diagnoses or symptoms, but I can bring to my work my knowledge and experience of psychiatry (and medicine generally) and mental healthcare settings (in particular the NHS), including how such experiences for some people may not have been helpful or perhaps even harmful. 

I am particularly interested in how people come to make sense of things for themselves and what they discover can be a strength and help. I also view body, mind and soul as an integrated whole and I try to be open to many perspectives and paths to understanding, which includes spiritual dimensions of experience.

I work with individual, adult clients and also trainee counsellors and psychotherapists. Particular areas I can work with include

- Loss and grief

- Struggle with emotions, mood and anxiety

- Relationship difficulties and concerns

- Sexuality and issues related to gender

- Life transitions and facing important decisions

- Questions of meaning, purpose and identity

- Spiritual and religious questions and concerns

Please see my website which describes in more detail my values and attitudes, what I bring to my therapy work, as well as more about my background.  It is also possible to download an information sheet which provides more detail about my practice and terms of agreement. I also detail other areas of my work and my publications (books, chapters and papers).

Many people know the reason(s) why they are seeking therapy, but for others it is not very clear what they either want or need and it may take time for this to emerge. 

In our first session we will explore what the focus of our work might be and we can get a sense of what meeting together might feel like. There is no obligation to arrange any further sessions after this initial meeting.

I offer supervision Mondays to Thursdays in the daytime and Friday mornings. Evenings are occasionally available also.  

If sessions are less frequent than fortnightly then it may not be possible to guarantee the same day and time for each session.

I am delighted to offer supervision in addition to my work as a therapist, trainer and writer, and I recently obtained a diploma in relational supervision - a training provided by Severn Talking Therapy.

I have been a person-centred therapist since 1998, now in private practice, having previously worked in the voluntary sector. My other professional background is as a psychiatrist.  Providing consultative support and supervision was a strong and valued feature of this work and I bring this experience to my role as a supervisor. My overarching aim is to create an environment for the development of reflective, ethical practice in which therapists can enjoy developing a way of working and being that is congruent with their experience, beliefs and values. 

The style of supervision I provide is underpinned by my commitment to humanistic and person-centred values and principles.  As such, I am interested in the person of the therapist as well as their work and therapeutic process with clients, and also the influence of the context (e.g. organisational) in which therapists work. By paying particular attention to the nature and quality of the supervisory relationship, I hope that supervisees can feel confident and safe to bring all aspects of themselves and their work, in the spirit of learning, growing and becoming the best therapist they can be.

I have been a qualified person-centred therapist for over 25 years.  I have also worked as a psychiatrist in the NHS and I have many years experience (1995-2020) working in this role in a range of mental health settings.  

This means that I am well placed to understand psychiatric related concerns and issues clients may bring (for example, psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric drugs), the influence of the medical model on thinking and practice, and an understanding of the range of professional roles and treatments within NHS mental health services.  It also means that I have experience working with people experiencing complex and severe mental disturbance and distress.  

Having said that, I am a strong advocate of non-medicalised approaches and I am particularly interested in the social, environmental and cultural context in which disturbance and distress arises.  I have critiqued the medical model in considerable detail, particularly in various publications.

I therefore have a good understanding of the kinds of tensions, challenges and ethical dilemmas that counsellors and psychotherapists may encounter when working from a therapy model that is not aligned with the more mainstream medicalised narratives within Western cultures.

I aim to work flexibly in terms of focus and the functions and tasks of supervision, according to the needs and experience of therapists.  In general, depending on their level of development, I trust therapists to identify what they need to bring to supervision.

See my website for further detail about the interests and philosophy that informs the way I work - www.rachelfreeth.com

In an initial session I will be pleased to hear about your work and its context, your training, experience and what inspires, rewards and challenges you as a therapist. You will also be able to get more of a sense of my supervisory style and how we might work together.