Elizabeth Chalmers

I currently work Monday to Thursday, daytime and early evenings. Please feel free to contact me to check on current availability or to arrange a time to a preliminary phone call.

Hello and thank you for looking at my profile as you consider seeing a counsellor. Whether this is the first time you have decided to take a look at counselling or you have seen a counsellor before, I hope to give you an idea of what it would be like to come and see me and how I work.

I see individual adults and couples. My practice is based in Hampton Hill and is easy to access from the wider area by car, or public transport.

I am an experienced, professional and flexible counsellor and I can tailor my approach to you as an individual, drawing from the training, resources and experience that I have. I aim to work in a way that fits you as a person, empowers you and helps you to move forwards in your life.

Everyone is unique and has their own background, experience of life and hopes and fears about the future. For anyone, when life gets difficult as it can, family and/or friends can sometimes help, but taking the opportunity speak to someone outside, who doesn't know you in the way that family and friends do, can be beneficial.

People come and see me for many, many reasons. Sometimes because they know they are anxious, depressed or struggling to come to terms with a loss or change in their lives. Sometimes because they notice patterns in their lives they don鈥檛 like or are finding it difficult to move forwards to meet challenges, build good relationships or achieve their personal goals. Other times it is that they just don鈥檛 feel 鈥渙kay鈥� or they feel 鈥渟tuck鈥漚nd are not sure where to start with counselling but would like to explore what might be possible.

Whatever your reason for thinking about counselling, you are most welcome to get in touch.

I am a qualified and experienced humanistic counsellor with an Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Counselling (2007) I am an Accredited Member of the 麻豆原创 and listed on the 麻豆原创 Register For Counsellors and Psychotherapists (Reg. No. 038577) As such I am bound by the 麻豆原创 Ethical Framework for Good Practice.

In line with this Code of Practice I will keep what you discuss with me confidential. Like all counsellors, I have regular confidential supervision.

My original training integrated three humanistic approaches to counselling:

Person Centred Therapy - which places special emphasis on a empathic, non judgemental and congruent relationship between counsellor and client.an

Gestalt Therapy - which in addition places an emphasis on understanding a person鈥檚 here and now experience in life and offers an interactive and creative relationship between counsellor and client, where both work together to build an understanding of the client鈥檚 experiences.

Transactional Analysis - which offers ways to think about and understand patterns in how we relate to ourselves and others.

Over the years I have added Continuous Professional Development training in many areas including:

• Attachment Theory- which looks at how our earliest relationships shape the patterns we adopt in our adult lives and how these patterns can be modified where they have become unhelpful to us.
  
• Developments in neuroscience - that can help us think about the interplay between the body and the mind and the role of early experiences in setting up the basis for our emotional and relational lives.
  
• Body Psychotherapeutic approaches - which value working holistically, seeing the body and the mind not as two separate systems but as deeply interconnected. In particular value learning about the Relational Trauma Therapy approach, developed by Merete Holm Brantbjerg and Kolbj酶rn Vardel, which amongst many other things offers very practical ways to work with stress and trauma patterns and build resilience.
  

You can contact me, to book to see me or to ask preliminary questions, via the 麻豆原创 directory. I aim to reply to you within 1 working day.

My usual practice is to arrange a mutually convenient time for us to first talk on the phone. We can look at practicalities like appointment times, where I am based, parking etc and also speak just a little about what you are wanting to see me about. This usually takes around 10 mins.

It is important that you choose a counsellor who feels right for you. So the next step would be to set up a Taster appointment (50mins at the reduced rate of 拢50). This gives us the opportunity to meet each other, you can get a sense of how we might work together and I can hear a little more about you. If after this we are going to continue into ongoing sessions, we will set this up.