Cherril Wilson-Toft

My main working days are Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9am to 5pm, and Thursday afternoon/early evening.

Living with distress, feeling unwanted or unheard, not being able to see a way forward can be limiting and corrosive. I will work alongside you to explore difficulties, losses and changes that you may wish to make; to increase your understanding of yourself and thus maximise your potential. Gaining insights from the past may help you shape your future narrative and relationships.

To support you, I draw upon 16 years’ experience of working with private individuals and with referrals from the emergency and medical services and within the corporate sector.

Why do we go to counselling?

It may start with loss, grief, trauma, a difficulty at work, anxiety, childhood abuse/adverse childhood experiences but it can also manifest as feeling overwhelmed, anxious or depressed, of feeling excluded, losing confidence or not being able to see a way forward.

How can counselling help?

Counselling offers a safe and non-judgmental space to explore feelings and concerns. It can provide both a sense of release, validation and insight as to why we are feeling the way we are. The process of sharing with a safe, trained, other person allows us to reframe past experiences. This trusting relationship that the client and counsellor build together supports the forging of new ways of seeing yourself and your situation, adopting strategies that "hold" you through a difficult period. We can begin to feel more confident about our resources and increase our sense of our own autonomy, whilst healing past wounds.

What can I offer you?

Close, affirming attention to what you are saying and feeling. Focusing with you on past hurts, present aspirations and hopes. The relationship we develop together is key to enable healing and growth when working with hurts and difficulties. I will provide a safe, confidential space in which you will feel accepted and heard.

Some of my areas of expertise include:

Trauma resolution, specifically using EMDR to process disturbing memories & reduce emotional, somatic and behavioural symptoms of the associated anxiety. I have extensive expereince of working with grief, loss and trauma.

Attachment & Relationship: how attachment patterns and family dynamics can influence our relationship choices and our responses within our relationships.

Work environment: organisational change; inappropriate work demands; bullying & harassment: work-related stress; assertiveness; retirement.

Student issues: relationships; self-care, anxiety, isolation; study problems

The initial consultation is an opportunity to explore what you would like from counselling and to see if we feel commfortable working together. I can work flexibly in terms of face to face or online or a mixture of both. I aim to provide a safe and comfortable environment which helps to engender healing and reflection. If useful to you, I will create tailor-made resources to equip you with strategies between sessions.

My working days are Tuesday, Wednesday 9am to 5pm and Thursday afternoon/early evening.

I value the process of reflection and the insights and clarity it can bring. A key component within supervision is to understand the process we engage in with our clients and ourselves.

I believe that good support can help you to feel resourced, supported and inspired.

I very much enjoy supporting and encouraging trainee counsellors; we can look together on how you are working, ways of working and building up confidence.

I have been a clinical supervisor for over 16 years: I trained at University of Leeds and gained Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Supervision. I have continued to participate in CPD, both as a clinical supervisor and as a therapist.

I focus on what best serves the needs of the client and thus helping you to be truly present with the client. Within this process it can be good to extend the range of how you work and, if appropriate, draw upon creativity, both within oneself and your clients.

These approaches are informed by the theoretical models of Hawkins & Shohet, Page and Wosket and the work of Inskip and Proctor.

I have worked with supervisees whose underpinning theoretical orientations include person centred, integrative and psychodynamic. My aim is to increase understanding of the chosen model both as a coherent theory and in application to the client work.

The settings I work in include: counsellors in training and counsellors in private practice and in primary care, counselling agencies and charities.

I charge £60 per hour session (and £80 for an hour and a half session). I offer a concessionary rate for counsellors in training.

I offer a free consultation to explore what you are looking for and to see if we would feel comfortable working together. I believe that supervision is an important part of taking care of oneself and having reflective space is an important part of that process.