Karen Stainsby

I offer sessions Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm.

I aim to provide clients with good notice of any planned times that I may not be working such as holidays.

I am happy to have an informal discussion via email or phone. If I am not available to answer your phone call in person, you can leave a confidential voice mail and I will call you back. 

I am a qualified and experienced counsellor and counselling supervisor and have been working for twenty seven years. I hold BACP senior accreditations in counselling and supervision and am BACP registered, which recognise the achievement of high standards of professionalism, knowledge, ethical practice, experience and development. As a member of BACP, I abide by its Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, hold professional indemnity insurance, and am committed to my ongoing personal and professional development.

My counselling work is underpinned and supported by many years of experience in the medical, academic, private, statutory and voluntary sectors. This is coupled with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of human psychology and breadth of experience gained through working with a wide range of clients’ concerns and problems.  I tailor my therapeutic approach to each client's particular character, situation and difficulty, offering a variety of approaches to help them. My work is highly regarded both by my clients and colleagues. Having helped clients, some return after several years with a new difficulty they would like help with. I feel very privileged to have met and supported many different people from various walks of life with their difficulties and challenges.

I have experience as a corporate trainer and have also designed and delivered courses to trainee and qualified counsellors, supervisors and other health-care professionals. I have extensive experience in curriculum design and examinations as well as writing and reviewing publications about therapy, supervision and personal development.  

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My private practice is in Knaphill, Woking. I work from a private, dedicated therapy room in a peaceful garden. Sessions last for 50 minutes and it is recommended that initially, clients have weekly sessions that are then spaced out as the therapy progresses.  There is no commitment to attend a set number of sessions.

 How many sessions you will need depends on the issue or concern that you bring to counselling and on you as an individual (and will be discussed during assessment at your first session).  Together, we will review the work at regular intervals.  Some people come to counselling for a short time (2-6 sessions) whereas others may benefit from longer work.  I offer both short-term and open-ended counselling to adults.

My fees are competitively priced and will be discussed when you contact me.

No therapeutic approach works for every person and for all problems.  However, I am trained and experienced in working with a diverse range of people, situations and concerns and will always work with your best interests in mind. Occasionally, if a different kind of help would be more appropriate for you, I can provide specialist referral information.

The first session involves the chance for you to tell me about your concerns and for me to make a full assessment, how we might work together and make a plan for the future based on any goals you may have. We will discuss confidentiality, how I protect your personal information and then if it is appropriate to continue, we will agree a contract.  The first and subsequent sessions are charged at the full session rate.

 I have current availability as a Trainer.

I am a qualified and experienced counsellor and counselling supervisor and have been working for twenty seven years. I hold BACP senior accreditations in counselling and supervision and am BACP registered, which recognise the achievement of high standards of professionalism, knowledge, ethical practice, experience and development.

My work as a trainer is underpinned and supported by many years of experience in the medical, academic, private, statutory and voluntary sectors.

I have experience as a corporate trainer and have also designed and delivered courses to trainee and qualified counsellors, supervisors and other health-care professionals. I have extensive experience in curriculum design and examinations as well as writing and reviewing publications about therapy, supervision and personal development.

I am the author of various BACP Good Practice in Action resources which are intended to support practitioners by providing information on good practice, principles and policy within the context of BACP's Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.  These resources cover topics such as supervision, the supervisory relationship, confidentiality, record-keeping, practitioner self-care, safe-working, fitness to practise, managing workload, accountability and candour, mental health and retirement from the counselling professions (see bacp.co.uk/gpia). I also contribute articles to Therapy Today and provide ethical responses in its Dilemma column.

If you are interested in finding out more about me as a trainer and what I can provide for your organisation, please email or call me.  

I offer sessions Monday to Thursdays 9am-5pm.

I aim to provide supervisees with good notice of any planned times that I may not be working.

It is recommended that supervisees attend regularly for a minimum of 1.5 hours per month in line with BACP's Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

I am Senior Accredited both as Counsellor and Supervisor with 27 years’ experience across a wide range of clinical contexts. I have a Diploma in Supervision from Cascade and offer supervision to newly qualified, established and experienced practitioners who work with adult clients.

Within the safety of a collaborative supervisory relationship, I offer a balance of support, learning, understanding, encouragement and appropriately-placed challenge. This helps my supervisees further develop their professional knowledge and practical skills as well as maintain and build upon their ethical mindedness, decision-making and risk-management (all necessary in resolving practice dilemmas). Providing a 'safe harbour', my supervisees can also bring material from their practice and about themselves that may at times, feel very difficult for them.

I use the supervision model developed by Inskipp and Proctor encompassing the three supervisory tasks:

• Normative - ethical and best practice issues

• Formative - skills development and theoretical learning

• Restorative - practitioner wellbeing, resilience and self-care

I am the author of various BACP Good Practice in Action resources which are intended to support practitioners by providing information on good practice, principles and policy within the context of BACP's Ethical Framework. These cover topics such as supervision, the supervisory relationship, confidentiality, record-keeping, practitioner self-care, safe-working, fitness to practise, managing workload, accountability and candour, mental health and retirement from the counselling professions (see bacp.co.uk/gpia). I also contribute articles to Therapy Today and provide ethical responses in its Dilemma column.

If you are interested in finding out more about supervision with me, please email me. I offer a free, no obligation, 20 minute phone consultation that briefly give us both an opportunity to find out a bit more about each other and how we might work together.

My private practice is in Knaphill, Woking.  I work from a private, dedicated therapy room in a peaceful garden.

Part of our first supervision session will involve discussing the theoretical orientation underpinning the work.  We will discuss and set up our Supervision Contract.  We will also discuss data protection requirements.  We will speak in more depth about you as a practitioner, the therapy or service you provide and how best we can work together to meet the demands of your practice.