Joanne Gibson

I am an integrative counsellor, which means I have trained and qualified to use the following approaches, Psychodynamic, CBT and Humanistic. I am also a Positive Psychology Practitioner and Positive Psychology Coach. I know it can be confusing to know what type of counselling may be best for you. Integrative counselling  is a combined approach that brings together different elements of specific therapies. I also offer coaching to individuals. 

As an Integrative therapist I take the view that there is no single approach that can treat each client in all situations. Each person needs to be considered as a whole and counselling techniques must be tailored to their individual needs and personal circumstances. Integrative counselling maintains the idea that there are many ways in which human psychology can be explored and understood – no one theory holds the answer. Essentially this means that as an integrative counsellor I am able to tailor therapy to clients and not the client to the therapy.

I use various techniques, such as mindfulness, creative therapy using drawing, emotions cards, Stones, Shells, and various other creative interventions. This can be really helpful for those clients that struggle to express there emotions and allows them to access their unconscious and process things that create inner turmoil, conflict, leading to negative thoughts and behaviour.  

The daily challenges of life can become overwhelming and whilst family and friends can be a great source of comfort and support, speaking to those personally involved can be difficult.

I offer both short-term and long-term therapy, which will be led by you.

The space that I offer, is yours for 50 minutes, and I will be led by you and what you need. I offer a free 20 minute telephone consultation which will give you the opportunity to ask questions and help you to decide if you will feel comfortable to work with me. 

The first session will involve me going through my counselling contract with you. This is to ensure you how I work within the ethical framework and to keep you safe. I will take a few details from you and then the session will be yours. 

I also offer coaching which can be a set package or open ended sessions. Whatever suits your needs and dependent on what your coaching goals are. Whether you want well-being coaching, motivational and confidence building or helping with your career goals. We can discuss your goals and requirements in a chemistry session. 

My name is Joanne and I am an Integrative Adult and child counsellor, which means I am able to draw on several counselling approaches, Psychodynamic, CBT and Humanistic and creative approaches. I am also a qualified Positive Psychology Coach. I also work in schools. This means I am able to tailor my approach as a supervisor to best suit your needs and training dependant on your theoretical orientation.

As a qualified supervisor I believe I offer something unique due to my integrated skill set as a counsellor and master practitioner coach. This integrated approach supports my role as a supervisor, counsellor and coach, which will assist you in strengthening your client work to empower you and your clients.

I work with qualified counsellors and supervisors and counsellors in training. I can also offer supervision to qualified coaches or coaches in training. We all know the importance of the therapeutic relationship in therapy and coaching and this is a strong focus for me in my work. The supervisor and supervisee relationship is just as crucial, as supervision often mirrors the process that is happening with your clients. So for this reason I offer a free 20 minute telephone consultation to see if you feel we could work together, as I believe supervision should be a collaborative process. I want you to feel comfortable with me and feel that you will grow and be open to new ways of working to support your practice. I love seeing the process develop and watching the supervisee feeling empowered and confident in their practice. Self-awareness is the key to positive change, growth and building resilience. 

In my supervisory practice I use the Seven-Eyed supervision model, this is a process-oriented approach which integrates the relational and systemic aspects of supervision. This model means I can provide supervision for counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches, teachers and social workers. The model focuses on the relationships between client, practitioner and supervisor, and takes into consideration the interplay between each relationship and their context within the wider system.

The IDM and Seven eyed models inform my practice as a supervisor to support my supervisees at a level they are competent in. The use of the eyes mean I am able to work collaboratively with my supervisees and identify areas for further exploration, promoting self-awareness, highlighting growth. The supervision process that I offer encompasses skills and competencies to support the development of my supervisees. These models have informed my approach, enabling me to make observable changes for both Parties. Providing insight and notable competencies to enhance your practice. Empowering the supervisee to move from novice to expert.

Using these models and approaches have enabled me as supervisor to monitor the supervisees efficacy and identify areas that could be developed further and the eyes help me to identify specific differing areas of development. 

Other Experience

I also work with adults and children and have experience of working as a school counsellor. I have also managed counselling projects in schools for a large organisation and I also work with a local authority within schools, specifically offering counselling to children in the social care system. I also supervise counsellors for various schools that have their own counselling service. I am fully conversant with school protocol and procedures and working with school SENCOs . I am also very experienced with making onward referral processes to other mental health services such as the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and very well informed in in relation to safeguarding policies and onward referral procedures to multi agency safeguarding hubs for adults or children. I also work with other organisations such as Victim support and other specialised services that need to refer clients for counselling.

Qualifications

My supervision training has given me an advanced certificate in clinical supervision, including online working. This means I am competent to offer clinical supervision both online and in a face-to-face setting, in line with evidenced-based practice.

My training is mapped to the BACP supervision competence framework, the National Counselling Society (NCS) Good practice guide for supervision and the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO) Online supervision competencies.

Integrative Counselling Degree - BA(Hons)

Applied Positive Psychology and Psychology Coach - MSc

Advanced Certificate (Level 6) in Clinical Supervision Including Online and Telephone Working

Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling

Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People

Advanced Child Protection – Level 3

I am up to date with child safeguarding and child protection training, adult safeguarding and have an enhanced DBS.