Carole Sanderson

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday evenings; 5pm-8.30pm. 

I've been a qualified therapist for almost 20 years and have experience of helping people with many different problems. I have worked in primary care for an NHS service and privately during that time. I am Accredited by BACP and a Member of EMDR UK offering Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing for trauma-based problems. 

I have a Certificate in Supervision and an Advanced Certificate in Supervision provided by Jenny Biancardi, Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Depending on what you need as a trainee or qualified therapist; I offer one-hour and 90 minute sessions. 

Please contact me for more detailed information so that I can offer you the service you need. 

In supervision; we'll have a brief chat about you, the therapist and how you're month has been. This involves how your work has been progressing, any difficulties you might be having and how you've coped or over come these. 

We'll look at case material and how you are working with your clients and any information I can offer that might enhance your practice or help you to signpost your client to other, additional services. 

Your first session would be an assessment session. This would involve some  history about you as a therapist and what you need as a supervisee. 

I'm now offering Therapeutic Writing (group format)  as  a cost-effective way to achieve therapeutic relief.  Although I continue to offer one-to-one therapy, I am aware of the effect the cost of living rises are having upon the public's ability to afford one-to-one sessions. 

Therapeutic Writing is a long-established method to reduce anxiety and depression (although is not a replacement for one-to-one therapy.) It is not therapy per se, but it is therapeutic and one can learn a lot from the written exercises used in the groups which can also be take-home coping skills to use in your own time as and when necessary. 

Therapeutic Writing offers a method to say those things we never said and find answers to the questions that we didn't dare ask. Research tells us that putting pen to paper can give us soothing brain chemicals such as Dopamine. The community spirit of the group helps us to learn we are not alone in our search for relief from anxiety, depression and other difficulties. 

The groupwork takes the writing tasks a little deeper into the self with more pressing questions for us to answer. We need never feel pressured to discuss this in the workshops and often there are participants who are happy to share what they have written whom we can learn a lot from. Other therapies will also be discussed and some demonstrated such as abdominal breathing and guided imagery. 

I will also be asking holistic 'guest' therapists to come in from time-to-time to show what else we can do to reduce our symptoms and get therapeutic relief. 

If you think this might be for you, then get in touch to find out more. Workshops are on-going on a rolling basis. 

I have a lovely long room full of comfortable chairs.  There are warm and soothing colours and soft textile throws on the chairs. Part of the room is sectioned off for one-to-one work as and when necessary. Most people who come to see me say they love my room and that it's homely and inviting. 

In the workshop situation; the chairs are in a circle to allow every participant to feel part of the group and valued by each other. Each participant has an opportunity to show their work and discuss either with another or with the group whichever is appropriate at the time and whichever is preferred (or not). Again, there is no pressure to share. 

I engage participants with 'ice-breakers' such as choosing an object from a large jar of; small soft toys, rocks and pebbles from the beach or photographs from magazines or postcards. I ask each to write why they picked the object and discuss (again, this is entirely optional) but what I find is that people do want to talk. Then we move onto more in-depth, reflective pieces of work. Then a light refreshment break and pick up again after that. In the last session it was clear people didn't want to leave and some participants have been in touch and left really lovely reviews about what they gained from the workshops. Some have kept in touch with each other for long-term friendship.

Most will (I think) use the take-home skills they've learned in the room and I believe most left feeling valued not just by myself but by all in the group. 

I do ask people who contact me to come in for an initial assessment unless we've already spoken on the phone. This is to get an idea of whether using the workshops is an appropriate way to address the problem or issues. 

If I believe a client may feel more vulnerable, exposed or may not cope I would discuss this with them so that we can work out a way for the client to access what they need in a safe environment.   

For Counselling, Psychotherapy and EMDR: my working hours are; Monday to Thursday 5pm-8.00pm

For the group sessions below (Please contact me directly if you are interested in booking a place.) 

Therapeutic Writing Groups are currently running on Saturdays, 9.30 til 11.30am

Sound Therapy using Gongs, singing bowls and drums; offered either one to one or in a group setting. Currently offered as a 'bolt-on' to the Therapuetic Writing Group. 

One to One Sound Therapy is available by arrangement 

Therapeutic Writing techniques will transport you to new insights about how to move forward, improve your self-confidence, make positive changes,  change your perspective on how you see yourself, your life and find a way through the mind-fog we sometimes finds ourselves in. 

Sound Therapy uses frequencies produced by gongs, singing bowls and drums. Using sound (waves) is not a new practice and is proven to offer the conditions for healing and renewal both physically and emotionally. This may be suitable for you if you find it difficult to put things into words. 

For more information contact me on info@carolesandersoncounselling.co.uk or 0773 776 1570. 

As an Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and Psychotherapist; when I work on a one-to-one basis, I use a person centred approach. I also do groupwork and I have an office in Gosforth, Newcastle and feel privilidged and supported to work around other therapists who offer many other holistic therapies in the same building. 

As soon as you enter the building, you'll notice a warm atmosphere and calming decor. 

My personal strength is being able to listen well and get an insight into just what it is that you need from your counselling or psychotherapy. 

For trauma work I often (but not always) use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) to lessen or eradicate distressing physical symptoms caused by traumatic experiences.  

For those unable to focus in a one-to-one situation; I offer Therapeutic Writing in groups of up to 10 people. We use a variety of different materials such as poetry, prose, scripts and other prompts or props. The decor is homely with comfortable chairs creating a warm and easy atmosphere for you to get the absolute best out of each session. 

In Sound Therapy Sessions, I ask you to relax, focus on your breathing and play a combination of gongs, singing bowls and drums. This often helps clients move into a deeper relaxation state where many find peace, tranquility and revelations from their problems, distress and confusion about the future.  

If you'd like to know more about counselling, psychotherapy, EMDR or other therapies I offer please do get in touch to discuss.  

On a one-to-one basis; I work in a person-centred way.  This means meeting the needs of each individual in the session and not sticking to an agenda. As a therapist, I'm interested in you and how I can help you with your difficulties; we do an assessment lasting 50 minutes to one hour. We'll use some questionnaires during this session to gain insight into the level of your distress however unless absolutely necessary, we rarely do these again because therapists understand that the time in the session is valuable and is for you to talk about your problems, understand what's happening in the moment and importantly; for you to know that you've been heard.

Therapeutic Writing  is a different way of working, where there is a (flexible) plan for each session. Therapeutic Writing techniques can uncover the origin of your distress by writing down things that you have become aware of and often by just writing down how you're feeling in that moment. Remember, you never have to show or disclose what you've written if you don't wish to. 

Using poetry, prose and other prompts helps uncover, examine and explore; what's happened, how you're feeling and how you can learn to cope with it.  Perhaps you didn't get to say something to a loved one or need to express other thoughts and feelings and just can't say these out loud? If this sounds familiar, then perhaps Therapeutic Writing is for you?

Sound Therapy using a combination of gongs, singing bowls and drums is an excellent stand-alone treatment or can be 'pegged-on' to the end of your session.*

Therapeutic Walking; a seasonal service, listed as 'Walking the Talking'. Popular with people who don't like to be tied down to  another office environment after being at work all day. We meet at the office and walk for around 30-40 minutes ending the session back at the office. Sometimes the experience of talking while walking can free-up any tension you might have around discussing personal matters.  

* There is an extra charge for this. 

The first time we meet we'll do an assessment session. This is an information gathering process looking at the problem that troubles you most. There will be some questionnaires to complete but once done, we don't usually do these again (unless you ask to or unless I have a deeper concern about your mental health status.) 

I'll ask about your symptoms, the problem as you see it, whether you self-harm or intend to do so, medication and any health-care needs I should be aware for example if you're diabetic or have a heart condition. I'll ask about whether you have support from friends or family and together, we'll jointly decide which is the best approach for you such as counselling or in the case of trauma, perhaps EMDR. Or, if you're not yet ready to talk, we can look at Therapeutic Writing or Sound Therapy.

If you do decide to go with EMDR the following one or two sessions will be directly linked to EMDR assessment which is quite a bit more in-depth.  Whatever your decision,  we look at where you want to start. The content of the sessions is driven by you and what you need.  You might decide to have the assessment session then take some time to think about what it is you need and come back at a later date or maybe you'll join one of the  Groups in the interim to  help get you started.