Finder

Specialises in

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

• Counselling

• Transactional Analysis (TA)

Offers

• Face-to-face consultations
• Video and telephone consultations

About me

I help you get the most from relationships be it your relationship with yourself, your relationship with others, your relationship with food or your relationship with your partner.

I do this by offering a non-judgemental breathing space in which you can put the World on hold and, with no one making demands on you, reflect, pinpoint what’s really troubling you, get to the root cause then choose what, if anything, you want to do about it.

I work with individuals with many issues particularly high anxiety, mild to moderate depression, anger outbursts and other behaviour people find upsetting or difficult.

I work with those who have a troubled relationship with food specifically those who eat their feelings by turning to food rather than to people for soothing and comfort. Who HASN’T turned to crisps, chocolate, to fridge or to freezer for comfort? We have the term comfort eating after all. The trouble starts when it’s the “go to strategy” several times a day. We begin to put on weight (often frighteningly fast in bouts of "binge eating") and THEN the focus becomes losing weight with all the attendant “why can’t I do this, I am such a failure, I am so disgusting / useless / whatever-you-say-to-yourself” self talk and, in a vicious irony, when upset you eat which makes things even worse by kicking the whole horrible cycle off again.

Here is a client describing what working with me was like:

"Claire is a generous empathetic and trustworthy counsellor who gently took me through the process. She was hugely supportive when I got very emotional and made me feel very relaxed with her".

I'm an “integrative-relational counsellor” meaning once I've met you, I pick the best from several types of therapy (buzzwords like CBT, person-centred, humanistic, psychodynamic, mindfulness etc) to make a blend tailored to you rather than pushing you through the same old sheep dip regardless of your preferences or needs. Of all the factors determining how well therapy goes our therapeutic relationship accounts for 30% of likely success, and my “relational” degree taught me how to make best use of our relationship.

I run a private practice from my base in Weybridge. Before training as a counsellor I worked for 28 years in the private sector so I have insight into the stresses and strains of balancing work and life as well as experience of the ups and downs of life generally.

I'm part of The Practice UK, a team of mental health professionals dedicated to delivering full therapeutic service in an ethical, non-exploitative way for both our clients and our therapists. I've been part of the teams counselling at two Surrey GP surgeries and The Counselling Partnership, a BACP accredited charity.

It is hard to get the measure of each other from a photo and a profile so please call me on 07950 986 085 to discuss if an initial (non-chargeable) "chemistry test" session might be a helpful next step.

Areas of interest

Emotional eating;Binge eating;Comfort eating;Low Self Esteem;Body Esteem;Anxiety;Anger;Shame;Depression;Low mood;Age 18+

Specialist interests and expertise in the following physical conditions

• Eating disorders