Deborah Roberts

I am currently available for evening and weekend sessions, I am only offering online and telephone sessions at the moment.

Life before being a therapist/counsellor saw me working in a busy pupil referral unit, working with vulnerable families and children. I was led to the profession by an urge to want to help the young people and their families in a more holistic way from the core, I wanted to help them to help themselves, I wanted them to understand themselves better.

Having my own therapy allowed me the opportunity to truly feel held, therapy was the first time when I felt free of judgment, scorn, or disappointment.

The therapeutic relationship is a relationship like no other, it allows the freedom to have thoughts and feelings that may be frowned upon within the constraints of any other functional relationship. It allows you to really be still and learn about yourself through the thoughts and feelings of the other. 

My work with Clients and also working within the education system has enabled me to understand the importance of therapy for all, and especially for those who may be from disadvantaged backgrounds, having therapy allows my clients to feel a freedom of being, a freedom of speech that they have never felt before.

As a person-centred therapist/counsellor my work with clients is based on how they are feeling in the here and now during the session. I am led by the client, as I believe that the client is the expert on themselves, and I am merely there to facilitate emotions and feelings.

Carl Rogers believed that the therapeutic relationship has the power to heal all wounds through the use of the core conditions, Empathy, Congruence and Unconditional Positive Regard. He believed that a person could be on their way to becoming fully functioning just by having the right therapeutic experience in the relationship with their therapist.

As a Therapist it is my job to walk side by side with my client gently guiding them through the ups and downs that comes with life.

The first session will be used for gathering information, eg address details, medical details, mental health history. The session will also be used by the client to ask me any questions they may have about the therapeutic process, and about how I work. The first session can be nerve wracking  so I will use this session to try and alleviate any fears or preconceived misconceptions you may have of the therapeutic process. It is important that as the client you feel comfortable with me, so you can use this session to decide if you would like to continue sessions with me.