About Me
Hello, I’m Caroline
I am a counsellor, writer, group facilitator, and trainer based in North Wiltshire.
I work as a counsellor in private practice and deliver courses, workshops and training to charities and organisations, including Cotswold Counselling and The Churn Project in Cirencester, Willows Counselling Service in Swindon, Hazel Hill Trust near Salisbury, and BCPC in Bath.
More about my work
In my private counselling practice, I work with adults of all ages, and with a wide variety of issues, including low self-esteem, life changes, relationships, family life and parenting, anxiety, childhood abuse, illness, loss and bereavement.
My focus is to help you understand and accept yourself more, as I believe this is the foundation to thriving through all the stages in our lives. I aim to create a trusting therapeutic relationship in which anything can be spoken about, without fear of judgement.
I have experience working with illness, change, loss and grief, having spent two years counselling at We Hear You (WHY), a counselling service for people living with and beyond cancer or who have been bereaved due to cancer.
I also work with couples, helping to improve communication and understanding of one another.
I have been offering therapeutic creative writing courses and workshops since 2023. Written reflection is an important part of my own practice, and something I can bring into counselling sessions as and when helpful.
I teach on Introductory and Level 2 Counselling Skills courses for Willows Counselling Service and on the Listening Skills in a Diverse World course at BCPC. I also run training events and workshops using creative writing for therapeutic benefit.
My counselling approach
My counselling training is integrative, which means I combine different theories and approaches to meet the needs of each individual.
These are the theories and approaches that I draw on:
Person-centred counselling is based on the belief that a client is the expert on their own life, that people have the capacity to change, and that an empathic, honest and non-judgemental therapeutic relationship can be transformational.
Psychodynamic theory holds that early life experience has an impact on our way of being throughout life and looks at the ever-present relationship between current behaviour and past influences.
A relational approach means we can look at the relationship between you and others in your life and consider what happens in the relationship between you and I as we work together. The counselling relationship can illuminate how you relate to many other people, both past and present.
I am a qualified practitioner in creative writing for therapeutic purposes. If it feels beneficial, I can propose written or other creative exercises that can open up personal exploration and growth in new and different ways. It is always your choice whether you wish to try this.
By combining these approaches, I can help you look at all aspects of your life, making sense of your experiences in a compassionate way, and laying positive foundations for any changes you choose to make. I believe it is by knowing, understanding and accepting more of ourselves that we find more confidence and peace.
The value of writing
I have personally found writing an invaluable resource. I write to discover what I feel; to think things through; to document experiences; to process difficult experiences; to keep a record of things that happen to me, and to let people in my life know how I feel about them.
I’ve used it to entertain myself and others, as a way to share experiences, but also in a very private way, just to get something out of my system and onto the page. I have explored writing in many different ways, at different times, with different results.
More recently, I have pursued writing as a professional interest, gaining a certificate in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes, and working towards an MSc on the same topic.
Some of my writing is for publication, blogs, or performance, some of it more for personal, therapeutic purposes. I am passionate about exploring this whole spectrum, and sharing the learning and the benefit and the writing itself with others. I hope you’ll join me.
Working with me feels…
Qualifications
Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling from Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling (BCPC)
Certificate in Working with Couples accredited by the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists (NCIP)
Practitioner Certificate in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes with Metanoia Institute
Memberships
