Anita Kelly

I also offer online and telephone counselling. I conduct my sessions using Google Meet or Zoom.

I welcome enquiries for therapy and will take into account individual personal requirements.

I am a psychotherapeutic counsellor and offer personalized therapy based in Hampshire. My experience is grounded in my accrued learning from clients in clinical practice, which has taught me how genuinely to listen with both head and heart; to provide a humane and creative space for free thinking, drawing intuitively from life experience to make sense, see new possibilities and open up to new perspectives. You can expect me to offer support and challenge – someone to be alongside you as you encounter difficulties in your life or challenge you on your journey of personal growth. I can assist you in navigating through life, helping you understand how you operate in the world: what you like, what you would change, and why.

I believe that exploring our inner world and gaining more understanding can make us feel better. This process involves not only the healing of psychic wounds, but uncovering unconscious blocks that prevent emotional growth and the realization of creative potential.

Perhaps you are experiencing the same recurring adverse life events or relationship issues or are caught up in negative and self-defeating patterns, maybe there is something that needs to shift.

Through a highly individualized process my role as a therapist is to help you understand yourself, especially the unrecognized or unacknowledged aspects within you and your life; gain an insight into what might have happened which has caused you to feel unhappy, depressed or overwhelmed by unresolved conflicts, or unable to move on.

Together we will work toward symptom relief or crisis resolution, while looking honestly at what is happening and identifying the issues that need to be managed or resolved to improve the quality of your life. We can also engage in the deeper discovery of your authentic self and your creative potential.

We all face difficulties in life, and we all need to make sense of these, so we come up with stories to help us do so.

As I listen to you tell me about yourself and your life, I will begin to get to know you and the stories that you tell yourself about things that are happening in your life. Since you are the best authority on your own life, I will always trust your narrative. But I may also see things slightly differently than you do, sensing new possibilities in the situation that you haven’t seen. Helping you find a slightly new story can often dramatically shift situations that seemed difficult to resolve, and lead to remarkable and positive transformations and growth.

Overall, my intention is to help you feel more enlivened, gain self-confidence, have more satisfying relationships and become more successful in your career. The cornerstones of my practice are support, collaboration, compassion, and imagination.

I offer short or long term open ended work. Short term (6-12 sessions) is appropriate when you want to focus on a particular issue and gain some clarity or come to a resolution about your feelings or direction. Even in 6 sessions suprising results can be achieved, but it’s a limited time frame.

Open ended therapy is where the end is not fixed from the start, so can be of any length. It is an opportunity to open up a space in which to explore and think more deeply about your life and concerns. This does not mean a client will necessarily be working longer term, but it is their choice as to how many sessions they would like. We will discuss our progress, and think about our eventual ending together as we move along.

This can be a difficult task and for this to be possible we will be meeting in a calm, respectful, accepting environment in which we can find a way forward together. 

Choosing the right psychotherapist may be the most important decision for anyone seeking this kind of help therefore I allow 40 minutes for the initial consultation. 

In a first meeting, we will think about your current and past experiences and what has brought you to this point, and will think together about what's happening for you, and what you hope for from counselling. It will also be your time to ask questions and find out what to expect before deciding to move forward.

If you are interested in therapy with me, please get in touch via email to organise our first meeting.