Vivien Philps-Tate

ABOUT ME

I'm a fully insured BACP accredited counsellor and hold an enhanced DBS certificate. I'm an accredited EMDR Therapist. I offer counselling for adults and young people, and play therapy for children. I also work with couples and families. I practice from private rooms in Knebworth, Hertfordshire. I work integratively - this means I can draw on a range of theoretical approaches and tools to support our work together appropriately. These include CBT, NLP, psychodynamic, gestalt, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Brainspotting and DNMS/Attachment theory.

Originally developed to treat people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress EMDR is now recognised as an effective treatment for other mental health conditions eg chronic pain, depression, relationship issues, and behavioural and chemical addictions. As an EMDR UK Accredited Practitioner I work extensively with members of the emergency services, including ambulance personnel, police and firearms officers.

DNMS addresses unwanted behaviours, beliefs, emotions, and urges rooted in unmet emotional needs from childhood trauma and attachment wounds. DNMS helps heal childhood trauma and attachment wounds by meeting the needs of wounded child parts to help them get unstuck from the past. 

Making contact by phone, or e-mail if it feels easier, can be a positive first step to talk through what you feel you need to move forward and how we might go about doing this. This will help you to form an impression, get a sense of me and the way I work, and decide whether you want to book a first session.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Viv Philps-Tate

My part in your journey is to help you make sense of what you are experiencing right now so you can understand more about why you are feeling the way you do. From there we can explore how you might want it to be different and work towards achieving those goals so you can live life more fully and freely, in the present, and with more choice about how to be in the world.

These values. along with my ethical obligations and duty of care toward my clients and my profession are the foundations of my commitment to you should you decide to work with me.

Counselling can be delivered equally effectively via several options, to suit your circumstances. Face to face in the same room is probably the one people are most familiar with. However, some clients prefer to have their sessions over the phone or on-line, or by email. This can be for several reasons.

Some people say they feel more comfortable and confident sharing their thoughts and feelings when they are in the privacy of their own space. In this way the quality of the communication and trust between client and therapist can be built gradually and becomes the 'room' in which effective therapy can happen.

I continue to offer sessions face-to-face where it is a preference for the client and appropriate as well as phone/Zoom and email. Clients whether new or existing can be assured of a continuity of care which is important in attending to your mental health. Even in normal times, these options can be useful for those juggling time and location commitments; where it's more manageable to find a quiet space in the day for an hour if it's difficult to travel to therapy (for instance if your work often takes you away from home).

Whichever medium you choose for your therapy, the values that underpin my approach to working with clients will be the same. You are in control of the pace and content of what you choose to bring to therapy.

Next Steps

Making contact by phone, or e-mail if it feels easier, can be a positive first step to talk through what you feel you need to move forward and how we might go about doing this. This will help you to form an impression, get a sense of me and the way I work, and decide whether you want to book a first session.