Katy Bridges

I currently have availability during school hours for face to face sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays.

I have evening availability on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the potential for sessions on Saturday mornings also. 

I will be on annual leave from October 20th to November 1st.

As a kind, caring and understanding person, who is also a qualified counsellor, I seek to provide you with a supportive, grounding environment, in which you can feel seen, be heard and experience a space to feel whatever it is you are feeling.

If you're here, looking for a counsellor, and live in the Weald of Kent, you may wish to consider me as an option. I work from my cozy caravan, at my home in Headcorn, in the heart of Kent and can see both adults, children and young people.

I have a Level 4 Diploma in Integrative Counselling, a Level 6 Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People, and am studying a second Level 6 Diploma, in Trauma Informed Counselling.

I work integratively as a counsellor, which means I can flex my skills and draw on different styles of counselling, to suit your needs, as my client. I always seek to build my relationships with clients on a foundation of trust, ensuring I practice with empathy, respect and congruence. 

I am a member of the Â鶹ԭ´´ and adhere to their Ethical Framework, including confidentiality and safeguarding, which you can use, as a client, to check that myself, or any therapist who is Â鶹ԭ´´ registered, are adhering to their guidelines. It can also be used as guidance for what you can expect from counselling sessions at a base level. 

If I am supporting your child or young person, the contents of our sessions will be confidential, between your child and myself, unless they wish for me to tell you something specific, or if your child has told me something that makes me worried for their wellbeing, or for someone else's wellbeing and I therefore need to safeguard them and disclose relevant information to you. I will let your child or young person know that I will be doing that, ahead of making the disclosure to you. 

My practice is set in my very cozy caravan, at my home, in Headcorn. Don't worry, it has heating! I am fortunate enough to have a family, so if your sessions are during school time, they will likely not be around, but at other times my family will be with my husband, who will always endeavour to keep the space around the caravan as calm and quiet as possible. 

Sessions with me will be 50 minutes long, unless you are bringing your child or young person to see me for support. For primary school children, sessions will be 35-40 minutes, depending on what your child can manage, and for secondary school children, I can offer up to 50 minutes. 

As an integrative counsellor, I work from a Person Centered position and can flex to use Gestalt, Humanistic and Psychodynamic approaches. 

I offer a free 15 minute phone conversation in which I will seek to  understand your requirements and ensure that I can support you, within my limits of abilities. If you feel able to let me know what you are struggling with, I will be better positioned to let you know if I can support you. This is also a chance for you to ask me any questions, and see if you like me! 

If you are bringing your child, or young person to see me, then our first session - the assessment session, will happen with you present and in conjunction with you and your child. All future sessions will be between myself and your child and you will be welcome to wait in your car, or return when the session ends.

Sessions are £50, for 50 minutes, and we can meet weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, depending on your needs and your preference. This can be discussed at assessment, which will be our first session. Payments must be made, via online banking, 24 hours before the session is due to take place. If you would prefer to pay cash, please let me know in advance so we can discuss this option.

Our first session will be a bit like a first - platonic - date! It's a chance for us to meet and see if we get on, for you to ask any questions and get a feel for the type of counsellor I am. If you don't like my vibe, or the setting doesn't feel right, then we won't continue.

I will do an assessment during this session, finding out more about what you're going through, and check that I can support you within the limits of my abilities. If your needs are outside of my abilities, I'll let you know and make a referral to a different practitioner, or service, if appropriate.  

As part of the assessment I'll be finding out about you, your living circumstances, family, physical health, mental health and wellbeing, previous counselling experience and your history. This bit of the session will be led by you - I'll be making a few notes but it won't be the Spanish Inquisition, we can go at your pace and the purpose of this is to find out if I am the best person to support you. There is no need to feel any pressure and you don't need to prepare anything ahead of our first session together. 

I will also be seeking to understand your goals for therapy, if you have any, so that I can ensure we stay on track for what you wish to achieve. 

Where do we go from there? If you feel comfortable and wish to begin regular sessions with me, and if I can support you within my limits of ability, then together we will plan for how often we meet, what day, and what time. I will prepare a contract for you which I will send by email and I will need you to return that to me ahead of, or at, our next session. I will be able to offer sessions in blocks of six and will check in with you, before the block ends, to see if we will continue.

And then, I hope, we can begin a journey toward creating a relationship based on empathy, support and respect, within a safe, grounding and non-judgemental environment, working toward achieving your goals and a better sense of wellbeing.