Nicola Dunkley

I am a BACP accredited counsellor working in private practice,   with adults and young people who bring a variety of concerns, such as low mood or depression, anxiety, stress, relationship problems, lack of motivation, loss, negative thinking, feeling stuck, uncomfortable emotions such as anger, abuse (including sexual, emotional, physical and neglect), bereavement and many more. I volunteer for Cruse Bereavement Care as a counsellor and supervisor and have volunteered for Seren, a charity offering counselling to adults sexually abused as children. I also work with those who see themselves as at risk of sex offending and wanting to stop their offending behaviours. I was a university counsellor for 12 years and continue to counsel in a secondary school p/time, where I also offer sandplay. 

I am a trained and qualified supervisor of counsellors. 

With regard to the section below on What I can Help With: I have to tick some boxes because it relates to how people search for help online.  However I would say that I am a general counsellor with a wide experience of working with a huge range of issues and presenting problems.  I do not see myself as an expert in any one problem, however in depth my experience may be in that subject, because to say one is an expert seems arrogant and also: 

what I do believe is that you, the client, are the expert on whatever is going on for you, whilst my expertise is in therapy - in the listening and noticing what you are saying and not saying, how that all might fit together, what it might mean for you, communicating what I am noticing to you in a useful way, creating trust such that you can share whatever you need to, however vulnerable that may feel, such that we can agree and disagree and work together, enabling you to draw on the resources you have to find a way forward that works for you.

I work in the room face to face, also online usually with Zoom, and, if necessary by phone.

I started counselling as a co-counsellor about 20 years ago, then trained for my Diploma in Counselling, qualifying in 2007 and have worked in three concurrent roles since then: as a school counsellor in a Welsh speaking secondary school, a university counsellor working with both students and staff, in my own private practice which includes providing counselling for Employee Assistance Programmes. Since 2005 I have volunteered for Cruse Bereavement Care and have been supervising fellow volunteers for several years. I also train Bereavement Volunteers. I qualified with the National Counselling Society Advanced Diploma in Counselling Supervision in 2016 and since then have been supervising counsellors in a variety of settings: university, charities (working with adults sexually abused as children; bereaved adults and young people; children and young people) and therapists in private practice.

I would just say that just because I have not ticked a box in the What I can Help with section, this does not mean I could not supervise a therapist who works sometimes with these issues. It simply means I would not set myself up as an expert in that field, or any field come to that, but it seems box ticking is necessary! I have ticked those boxes where I have had most experience.