Online Counselling for Brighton

Another therapist in the sea of therapists? Trying to decipher who's best for you based on a photo and therapeutic jargon when you're already stressed? Let me introduce myself and explain how I work and how I can help. I prioritise being a human first, meeting you where you are to build a relationship that facilitates lasting change. Establishing clear goals is central to my work, emerging as we progress, working together to relieve anxieties, traumas and life-limiting internal & interpersonal issues. Our work can lead toward more fulfilment, awareness, spontaneity, and intimacy.

Hello and welcome to my blurb. I know it can potentially be a daunting experience choosing a therapist so I’ll try and make it as easy as possible to see a glimpse of me, and be clear on how it all works. What is most important for me is to be authentic, open-minded and honest in everything that I do, including my practice. I will always endeavour to be myself, which I hope will give you the permission to bring your whole self. I’m a person-centred therapist, which means that I am led by you and will be with you in your therapeutic journey as long as you want me there.

My therapeutic philosophy is grounded in the belief that the past shapes our present, in particular experiences from our early formative years. Exploring the impact of these experiences can help to understand why we feel stuck or why we continue to repeat unhelpful patterns and behaviours in our intimate relationships, our friendships or our professional lives. Humanistic therapy helps to discover what is truly important to you and what is not, and thereby helps you make better and more informed choices.

Are you feeling depressed, confused about what you feel, ground down to the point where you feel unable to cope, or simply wishing you could talk to someone and feel understood? Individuals choose therapy for a variety of reasons and often the biggest hurdle to getting help is an inner voice telling us our problems are nothing special and we should "just get on with it". I provide a safe, empathic environment where you can talk about your concerns without fear of being judged and to provide you with the means to work out your own answers and create the life you want.

I am an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, who has worked in a range of settings with a wide range of clients. My way of working involves helping clients to gain increased insight and control over their presenting concerns or issues. Clients see me for a range of reasons including addictions, anxiety, bereavement, depression, illness, relationship difficulties and many other concerns. I have particular expertise working with clients wanting to explore questions around meaning of life. I am also a Professor of Psychology in HE and provide training therapy, as well as clinical and educational supervision.

My name is Cathryn and I work as a humanistic therapist with adults in the Brighton and Hove area. I work with individuals who have come to therapy seeking to explore and make meaning of experiences and challenges that life has presented so far, and the difficult, often confusing feelings that emerge from these. My approach is to work with you to build a safe, trusting space from where your unique identity and experiences can be explored safely and honestly at your own pace. I respect and welcome the personal journey that has led you into the therapy room, supporting you with warmth and kindness as you continue this.

Sometimes we are in distress or crisis. Maybe our behaviours confuse us or those around us. We may find it hard to be authentically ourselves, or have conflicting desires or feelings. We might be struggling with acceptance of things we cannot change, or struggling with self-acceptance. Maybe we are experiencing issues in our important relationships, or simply want to understand ourselves better. Perhaps we are just struggling with feeling down and/or overwhelmed. Therapy can be a helpful space to start with all of this. By providing a safe environment to explore the things that bother us, or that matter to us most.

Hi I'm Zoe and I'm a qualified person-centred therapist specialising in child and adolescent mental health and well-being. I have extensive experience working with children and young people - by using creative techniques such as puppet/figure work, sand trays and paints/clay it allows me to gain insight into the child's world and identify areas they need support with when verbal communication is difficult. This in turn can help to build confidence, strengthen self-esteem and lessen anxiety. As a result children can find themselves in a better place to engage within the classroom, impacting positively on educational attainment.

Struggling with low mood, anxiety, trust and relationship issues? The root cause could be unresolved trauma. With 20 years of evidence-based care, I help people who have experienced trauma and abuse move past pain and into the life they want.

Only a new path can lead to a new place. You may be suffering with trauma and navigating the repercussions of difficult events or memories. You might feel like you have lost your direction and maybe even a part of yourself along the way. I will work with you to help you to process these changes and gain a deeper understanding of the road that you have travelled so far. This can open your eyes to choices and options that might be hard for you to see right now.

At times life can be distressing or leave us feeling less able to cope. Perhaps you feel at odds with yourself; unsure of how to move forward or aware that you don't want to continue feeling as you do now.

Life is a journey. Why not enjoy the ride? As an experienced counsellor, I understand people arrive at therapy with having lived different lives and having experienced different experiences. I work in a way that tailors the therapy approach to your needs by using a variety of modalities. I see my counselling role as an opportunity for me to walk beside you in a non-judgemental, empathetic and collaborative way, using the therapeutic skills I have learned through my own life experiences and my years of counselling work to help you get to a path to make the meaningful changes in your life that you are searching for.

As your counsellor, I help you deepen awareness and curiosity about your present and past experiences, enabling you to gently veer from repeating unhelpful patterns relating to situations, others and yourself. I provide a safe and friendly counselling space. I am not there to judge or tell you what to do but to support you in moving beyond your current experience at a safe and grounded pace.

There are many reasons people decide to engage with therapy. Perhaps there is a particular issue that you would like to address, or you may wish to explore patterns and ways of being that no longer serve you. You may feel overwhelmed by your emotions or even disconnected from them. Maybe you just need a confidential space, free from judgement, where you can be heard as you process what is on your mind. Whatever brings you to counselling, I will work to understand what it is like to be you and to walk in your shoes. I will support you as you deepen your self-awareness and perhaps consider changes that you would like to make.

I offer a pragmatic and human approach to psychological distress. I believe we all have times in our lives when we need to sit with another person and work out what is going on and how to move past it. I offer this with warmth, compassion and experience. My background is in physical health and I am able to offer a holistic approach to therapy. I have experience working with people who also have long-term physical health conditions, and am very aware of how these aspects interweave and impact on the person. I work with abuse issues and have experience working with domestic and sexual violence, to gain clarity and understanding.

I am an experienced, welcoming and open-minded counsellor. Exploring in-depth what is troubling us with someone who is really listening, not just to your words but to the person behind them, can in itself be a healing process. It may also bring to light beliefs and ways of living that are holding you back. I draw on a range of integrative talking therapies (including Internal Family Systems). When something more is needed than talking alone, Brainspotting (a somatic therapy that evolved out of EMDR) can offer a gentle but powerful way to access deeper areas of the brain where emotional difficulties arise.

I offer a child centred approach. I will form a trusting relationship with you and your child to enable you to achieve your therapeutic goals. I believe in a combined approach which is humanistic and analytical, therefore I am adaptable and use a range of approaches to help you meet your goals. I also integrate a directive approach, this is important for children who experience emotional overwhelm or have traumatic blocks.

If there are aspects of your life that you find challenging and you long to break free from some of the restrictive cycles and patterns then I would love to stand alongside you and give you my full presence and support, and together we can create a safe space in which you can find the courage to risk opening to all that is within you. I offer sessions online internationally or face to face in Brighton, UK. Some of the issues I can help you explore are: Self-esteem/confidence, Anxiety, Stress, Depression, Bereavement, Relationships, Direction, Meaning & purpose.

You may be struggling to cope with life's demands, or wanting to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your story. My aim is to be with you and alongside you. Through our relationship we can try to make sense of some of the challenges that come with being human.