Counselling in Herne Bay

I am a fully qualified Psychotherapist and Counsellor. My clinical practice is flexible, and hopes to meet the different needs of individuals, couples and families on both a short and long-term basis. I work within an integrative model which is informed by psychodynamic and systemic models. I work with CBT as and when required. My practice has been running for over ten years, helping many people through very difficult emotional and psychological periods of their lives - including; anxiety; depression; relationship difficulties and childhood related traumas. I am also a specialist in substance addiction.

I am a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and have a doctorate in Psychotherapeutic and Counselling Psychology from the University of Surrey. Prior to this qualification I was awarded a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) degree in Psychology with Clinical Psychology from the University of Kent. I have a wide range of experience working within a number of Community Mental Health Teams and Psychological Services Departments for the Kent and Medway NHS Foundation Trust. These roles involved working with a broad spectrum of psychological distress ranging from mild to severe and enduring.

Hello and welcome. Finding the right therapist can feel a bit challenging and I would encourage always to try a few different ones before you decide. You are welcome to contact me to ask any questions that you may have by email or text is the best way to do this and from there we can arrange to speak on the phone at a time that suits you. I have been coaching clients for the last 16 years. My clients have described me as easy to talk to and relaxed, though I do offer a free assessment which is a two-way meeting to see how we get along, so you can dip your toe in the counselling/therapy water with no obligation.

I'll seek to offer you the right balance of warmth, immediacy and directness. You perhaps have some difficulties in your life and your experience that you want to work through with someone who will warmly and compassionately contain you and listen to you, as we work in partnership to resolve and heal issues. You are coming to me because you are wishing to work with a therapist with high emotional intelligence and strong life and communication skills. Finally, consider working with me because I work from a beautiful and discreet location, close to Canterbury or because perhaps you want to work online flexibly.

Psychoanalytical Psychoanalysis and Integrative Counselling: "The speed and accuracy by which Chris was able to work out our personalities and provide genuinely useful insight was, quite frankly, incredible.  This insight, hard as it was to digest, proved to be so profound to me that I was finally able to unpick what had being going on in my relationship.  His ability to sum up the relationship in one stark metaphor was a watershed moment for me.  Through his insight and continued support I have managed to start to discover myself again and to regain my confidence which had been systematically dismantled."  Mr. M, 2019, Canterbury.

Coming to counselling is an adventure! It can be immense fun and incredibly inspirational. It can also be hard and will certainly make you take a good look at yourself! If you want to make changes in your life then counselling is one of the most effective ways to do it... and I will help you along the way, walking alongside you, giving you support. It is a great privilege for me - and I deeply value the vulnerable person (within all of us) that counselling helps to find the courage to reveal. I work with kindness, warmth and respect, and our relationship will become strong - yet I will challenge you - but in a caring and gentle way.

I strive to provide a warm and non-judgemental space for my clients to talk, believing the relationship and connection between counsellor and client is fundamental to client self-exploration and personal growth. I work collaboratively with each client so I can tailor my approach, this is important, as we are all unique. Offering a safe and confidential space for the expression and understanding of feelings. I can offer the flexibility of short or longer term therapy and the frequency of sessions is entirely up to each client, options include weekly, fortnightly, a floating arrangement for those working on a changeable rota.