Ellen Spencer

My current availability is limited, but I am able to offer predominantly online sessions on either: 

Friday mornings 

Wednesday and Friday evenings. 

If you are local to my area I am open to arranging face to face sessions via a hired room or via walk and talk therapy on an ad hoc client need basis.

Finding a therapist is hard!
Don't overthink it. 
Do you like the tone and flow of what you read on the computer screen? How do you find their appearance and their body language in their picture? 
The only way you will really know is if you make contact and arrange the free 15minute no obligation call, to gage if you really click or if your energies really align. 
I absolutely offer these calls and would be happy to hear from you. 
But first, more about me...
I am an 'integrative' therapist meaning I shape each clients treatment course with a variety of different models and therapy perspectives depending on what it is you need or will serve your best interests.
I am classically person centered trained which means that at the core I really see you the client as the leader of our journey, you are the expert of you and I follow you. However, I wouldn't say that I am completely none directive, as therapy is a place to come to seek guidance, and I view my main role as being a sturdy base or a guiding helping hand for you in times of Shakey ground or uncertainty.
In therapy you have a space to come to feel less alone, and to seek refuge and clarity from the noise of day to day life and society. 
Sometimes this can mean just feeling really heard and validated and listened to. Sometimes it can mean being challenged or held accountable - both can be paths that lead ultimately to a more aligned life for you.
I have a special interest in identity, soul enquiry and existential exploration and like to work holistically bringing in all aspects of my clients 'self' including mind, body, spirit, social aspects of their identity. 
I enjoy using creative practices and exercises in my sessions, utilizing metaphor and imagination to support a client to make contact with the parts of themselves that they may feel separated from or lost to. 
A lot of my own mental health journey and lived experience informs my practice and my ability to understand and support you.

I have spent almost 10 years working in NHS talking therapies and the main thing I have taken from this experience is the value and appropriate nature of working in a time limited short term solution focused way.
I am happy to still work in this way if appropriate for my clients, however working privately also gives us more flexibility and scope to do longer term and more emotion focused work if needed, which is something that my own soul has missed and yearns for within my own therapy practice. 

I will make a rough plan from the offset with you, around how many sessions or how long is realistic for you to engage in therapy for. 

This will always be open to review as we move through the therapy, typically reviewing every 3 - 4 sessions. 

I am a therapist who is always working towards an ending as I do believe that, as in life, endings are as important as beginnings. 

Clients can work long term with me by bringing one piece of work to a close and having a break for assimilation and consolidation, and then returning back at a later date to take another step in their journey. 

After completing our initial free 15 minute telephone call and having agreed to begin work together, we will schedule a first hour long session in which we will cover the boundaries and limitations of therapy; confidentiality and also what you hope to gain from and focus on in your therapy journey with me. 

We will also very importantly map out your own boundaries and limitations for the therapy ie what you feel comfortable bringing for this therapy course and what you might want to leave off the table for now. 

Throughout the following sessions I will continue to check in with you to ensure we remain on the right track towards what you wish to achieve in therapy. 

We will complete a review session every 3 to 4 sessions, and will shape the therapy and interventions used around what you are drawn to, what lights you up in your life, and what your interests are. (This will differ so massively from client to client and will be very unique.)

At first I would recommend a session at least every other week for the first 3 months or so: to encourage the build of rapport, relationship and trust between us and for consistency, continuity and also safety and stability reasons. 
Following this time my clients are welcome to reduce the frequency of sessions to every 3 or 4 weeks if this is right for their needs.