Catherine Sweet

Hello, my name is Catherine Sweet and I am a qualified and accredited Integrative counsellor. I work with individuals and couples, in person or remotely. I am a clinical supervisor for therapists as well as other professionals who would like a reflective and supportive space. I work with young people (age 10+ ) and adults.

As a counsellor I will encourage you to talk and express in confidence the unique person you are. I will endeavour to offer you a genuine, reflective and non-judgemental relationship to explore your difficulties.

Sometimes we can become stuck in patterns of thinking and behaving which we feel like we have no control over. You may find it difficult relating to others and/or struggle to feel understood.

This is a place for you to become the expert of you, to look at who you are and the person you would like to become.

Working collaboratively, my hope is that I can encourage you to be more self-directive, more self-confident and expressive. More able to cope with the problems of living and gain more understanding of aspects of yourself and others.

Counselling for relationships is all about making space for two people to understand how to move forward through difficulty. My role is to support and empower you both to have a voice and communicate your perspectives and express your feelings in order to find a way through. Often people come for therapy together because they can’t move past a rupture, stuckness or there have been significant life changes that have meant that two people have lost their way with each other. Would you like to work together to move towards change? You may be a couple , a parent and child, siblings , friends, many types of relationships exist and I can offer a space for you both to gain deeper understanding of each other , communication skills, expression of your needs and most importantly , a way forward.

For individuals I offer a free 30 min initial phone or video call for you to ask any questions you may have and to see if I might be the right person to support you. 

Expect a warm welcome and an opportunity to explore what has brought you to therapy this time or maybe for the first time.  My hope is that after this first session you will have more clarity about where you would like therapy to take you and I will give you some feedback and ideas about how I can help and how you can help yourself in between sessions. 

If you are a young person I may invite you to attend with your parent (s) or carer(s) for part of the first session. Please see my website for more details about how I work with young people in my practice. 

For couples I offer a free 30 min introductory online call for you to see if I might be the right counsellor for both of you . I would like to understand what you would like to be different in your relationship. It is important that you both decide if you would like to proceed from here with a commitment to starting counselling together.

I work from the Nautilus rooms in the centre of Totnes and from my garden studio near by. Depending on the days and times you will be wanting to see me I will be working in either of these places. 

Monday, Tuesday, wednesday and Fridays.

In person or online or in groups

I offer Clinical Supervision for counsellors in Totnes and online. My counselling training was in Integrative practice and therefore I bring this theoretical perspective to my work as a Supervisor.

 Throughout my career so far my experience has been varied as a practitioner . I have worked and volunteered in higher education colleges , schools and specialist youth agencies and helplines. I worked with young people at Off the Record (Bristol) , The Isle of Wight Youth Trust and I was a counselling coordinator for Young Devon in Plymouth. Before my formal training I volunteered as a telephone counsellor at Bristol Crisis service for women (now Self Injury Support ). I now work solely in Private practice seeing both young people and adults. I have experience of designing and delivering workshops to both young people , veterinary professionals and counsellors.

 I am passionate about counselling being a very human experience and resilience in mental health being taught to both young people and adults. I believe I bring these elements to my Supervision practice too. I have special interests in working creatively in my practice, neuroscience and working with young people. I have experience of setting up, moving and maintaining a private practice and have interest and experience of marketing and promoting counselling which I always love to encourage other practitioners to do. I am experienced in supervising both groups and individuals, qualified and student counsellors.

I welcome working with those in other helping professions such as teaching, health workers, social work, veterinary practice or occupational therapy. I am experienced in supporting individuals and groups. 

My sessions are £65 for an hour  or £90 for 1.5hrs. I have a concessionary rate for student counsellors. I do not charge for report writing but need at least three weeks notice.

My hope would be that as a supervisor I can facilitate a space for you to feel supported , to develop as a therapist and to explore the processes and dynamics that you are experiencing. 

I believe supervision is a place for growth, restoration, questioning reflection, ideas, inspiration, letting go and connection. 

I integrate the models and functions of Supervision explored by Hawkins and Shohet as well as newer models of practice such as the work of Els Van Ooijen. 

I offer a free initial phone call to give you the opportunity to ask me any questions. 

In our first session my aim at the beginning is to try and understand how I can support you in supervision and to understand your unique practice.