Christine Flanders

My telephone number here is a work phone which is generally switched off at weekends and in the evenings after I finish work.  Please leave a message if I am unavailable and I will get back to you as soon as practically possible.  

As of the beginning of September 2024 I do have availability

I have been practising counselling/psychotherapy for 18 years in ; GP practices, Substance misuse services, community settings including school - working with individuals and groups of people including those with multiple complex issues. I work with adults and young people from approximately 11 years old.

Where clients are not adults I can contract to review the sessions on a regular basis to consider how the sessions are going and whether the young people are benefiting from the sessions from the young person and parent’s perspective.  However content of sessions will remain confidential within the boundaries of concerns about harm set out in my contract.  The young person and myself we agree what we will share together.

I aim to provide a warm and comfortable space to bring all of the self. I believe that feeling safe and comfortable is essential to building trust in the work of counselling. I work in a very person centred way which means that I believe that we all have the potential to find our own way through our difficulties. However sometimes we need a therapist to help us to recognise, listen and respond to our more authentic inner self.

We all have many layers of experiencing in our lives no matter what our age is and this can affect how we respond to our current life situations. Counselling works within these layers to bring freedom to be the person that you want to be in the now and future.  I offer reflections using tools from some other models where these connect e.g. CBT, TA, Person Centred Therapy and creative therapy skills etc.  I also offer practical coping strategies for e.g. anxiety, depression and trauma related issues.  

I work creatively using various media and objects which can bring spontaneous insight into the process. Words sometimes aren’t enough. However this is offered and is not compulsory.

I work week days when my latest appointment is 4.30pm. I am offering video and telephone counselling. However sometimes zoom therapy may not be appropriate. We will discuss this at the point of request.

I work from home in Trimdon Village, where I have a room set up for counselling and parking is easily available.

I work from home where I have a room set up for counselling.  I am now offering face to face and video sessions.   

Trimdon Village is easily accessed only 5-10 minutes from the Hartlepool turn off of the A19 Hartlepool turn off or from the A689 there is a turning off to Trimdon Village only a mile or so from Wynyard Park.

The first session of counselling is at a reduced rate of £20 so that you can try counselling and discuss what brings you to this point of exploring this type of therapy.  You can also ask questions if you are unsure about anything or want to know more about counselling/therapy.  Some clients will talk a lot in this session about what has brought them to this point and then we formally sign contracts and do paper work at the second session.  Other clients prefer to go slower and to find out more about the process and what's on offer first.  There is no obligation to continue to further sessions and you can continue one session at a time if you are unsure about beginning.  I do not ask clients to fill out outcome measure forms however I do offer the opportunity to set goals and we can pause at times through the therapy to review these goals and reflect about how the sessions are going.

The phone number here is a work phone which is switched off at weekends and in the evenings.  However I do sometimes offer supervision on Saturdays if requested.

As at the beginning of 2023 I do currently have availability for supervisees

I have practiced as a supervisor for 3 years.    However I have been practicing in counselling/psychotherapy for 18 years in different settings; GP practices, Substance misuse services, community settings - working with individuals and groups of people with multiple complex issues. I have a particular interest in this latter area and I have produced a training course which will help counsellor/psychotherapists to consider the different needs of this client group in their work e.g. work with trauma, practical issues and creative approaches

Since training I have enjoyed practicing supervision and encouraging counsellors in their work. My model is at core Person Centred and creative, however I do sometimes draw from other models, including TA relationship models, CBT and action work. I also believe that supervision is a useful space to help workers to consider their own self care, nurture and professional development. I aim to provide a warm and comfortable space to bring all of the self.

I love to work creatively and supervision is an ideal space to experience this for yourself if you would like to introduce more creative ways of working into your practice. This could include using art or collage as a media for example or using things like sand tray work, stones, images etc. These can be particularly useful in supervision as we look at the relationship between client and therapist even if you don’t want to practice this way yourself. This will be offered and but is not compulsory.

I currently work week days when my latest appointment is 4.30pm and some Saturdays for those who can’t get time out of their job to be able to access supervision comfortably.  I am offering video and telephone supervision during the Corona Virus pandemic.

I work in Trimdon Village, where I have a room set up for counselling and supervision and parking is easily available.  Finding me is quite easy from the A19 or A689 you can get to me within 5-10 minutes.

I work from home where I have a room set up for counselling and supervision. I am currently offering both face to face and zoom sessions. I work in Trimdon Village, where I have a room set up for counselling and supervision and parking is easily available. Finding me is quite easy from the A19 or A689 you can get to me within 5-10 minutes.  From Stockton or Hartlepool it is about 20 - 30 minutes depending your location.

I have many years of experience in Counselling people from multiple backgrounds from NHS GP practices to Addiction services.  This very much informs my supervision practice.  As part of this practice I have had to deal with many safe guarding issues over the years.  I am confident in helping supervisees to manage these when they arise.

I don't offer a free initial session for supervision however I am happy to provide a one off supervision as a taster without obligation to continue with sessions - giving an opportunity to experience how we may work together in the future and to answer any questions you may have.

After this we will agree a supervision contract and reflect around your individual needs for your work and what you would like to get out of supervision overall.