For Counselling Students

What an amazing path you are on.  It's been many years since I trod that path, yet I see each year in my students the dedication, the angst, and the commitment to all the personal development, learning, and self-awareness that is required of trainee counsellors.  At the end, I also get to witness the exhilaration of placement hours completed, and the joy and pride in a Viva passed.  It is undoubtedly an honour to facilitate such learning, knowing that students send ripples of healing out into the world.

As you read on, I want to try to convey my understanding of how confusing and frustrating it can be to search for a therapist that suits your way of being and needs. I have listened to so many students venting their irritation as they visibly deflate in front of me trying to convey what it feels like to spend hours searching and reaching out to potential therapists.

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Counselling for students should be for support as you work your way through, what is to my way of thinking, one of the most demanding courses you could elect to do. It should model good practice, offer psychoeducation when appropriate, and challenge you to view issues from many perspectives, often coaxing out beliefs and biases on the edge of your awareness into conscious thought.​

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I have a passion for creative counselling, Petruska Clarkson in her book ‘The Achilles Syndrome – Overcoming the Secret Fear of Failure’, writes that teachers teach as they would like to be taught, and that is true of myself. I constantly share creative interventions with my students, watching even the most reluctant students that protest their lack of creativity, recognise how powerful and beneficial creativity in therapy sessions can be, and become converts to creative experiences, acknowledging that you don’t have to view yourself as creative to offer and use creative forms of therapy.

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Creative interventions can be done for just moments or take a whole therapy session, they can be returned to over several weeks, added to, amended, and cathartically destroyed. Participating in a creative intervention can also add distance, a safe step away from the issue being discussed, and a reduction in eye contact as it’s done.​  It can be a gift for neurodiverse clients and students.

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And, most importantly creative interventions can be done online with a little explanation, client curiosity, and forward planning.  It's always a surprise and delight to me, to see the movement that can be achieved in one session using creativity.  ​​​​​

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Acknowledging your dedication, I offer reduced fees for counselling students and those newly qualified, please message me for details.