Liz Benamri

I counsel young people (13+) and adults to help “join the dots” and feel more confident to make challenging life choices. Face to face or online, I work with a wide range of issues specifically anxiety, abuse, school and relationship difficulties.

Over 20 years of working in education and then counselling young people from the age of 13, has given me useful insight into the pressures of teaching and learning in the school and college environments. I have developed a special interest in and affinity with students and teachers and feel I can relate to and understand many of the challenges they face throughout their careers.

I have also had the opportunity to study and work within multi-cultural communities enhancing my understanding of diversity and issues that can arise.

I have volunteered for a local youth agency where I saw clients between the ages of 13 and 25. 

With specialised training, I worked with survivors of sexual abuse and violence at a Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Service agency.  

Counselling training and qualifications

Having someone impartial to talk to, who is not connected to or influenced by your family, friends and colleagues can give you the time and space to explore any aspects of your life which are causing you stress and difficulties.

How can I help you?

As a person-centred counsellor, I actively listen to you, without judgement or an agenda, while you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. I believe we have the answers inside ourselves to improve our lives therefore I do not direct you or give you advice but work at your pace to discover ways to make decisions to have a more fulfilling future. 

I aim to build a collaborative relationship with you based on mutual trust encouraging you to feel more comfortable about yourself and making challenging life choices. I adapt my work to meet the needs and expectations of each of my clients because we are all individuals. If appropriate, I may suggest activities and exercises to develop coping strategies in dealing with stressful situations.

What can I offer you?

A wide range of counselling experience working with people from different backgrounds and age groups.

A non-judgmental, respectful and open therapeutic relationship.

A quiet, private space in a garden room with free parking if you choose to work face to face.

Online or telephone counselling if you choose to work remotely.

Your Privacy

Any note taking and record keeping will be kept to a minimum in line with the General Data Protection Register (GDPR). Your contact details will be securely stored away with very brief session notes which will be coded to protect your anonymity. 

After a free 30-minute introduction, either in person, on the phone or Zoom, we will arrange a time for our first session together. You can choose to conduct these sessions either face to face or online. 

In the first session, we will go through a working agreement so we are both clear about your needs and expectations. I will explain about confidentiality and its limits. This is also a time to ask any questions you may have and I will do my best to answer them, enabling you to feel more comfortable and ready to work with me. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

I believe that supervision is a collaborative working relationship based on trust, providing the time and space to review all aspects of the supervisee’s client work and personal development. Together we can explore what is working well in your practice and identify areas to develop through further discussion, reading, suggested resources and training to help build and maintain effective therapeutic relationships.

Although I incorporate a selection of supervision models, my approach is simple. As a trained Person Centred counsellor, my aim is to provide empathy, honesty and respect so supervisees feel supported and heard without judgment. I know this is conducive to encouraging supervisees to continue to develop and enhance their counselling skills for the benefit of their clients and themselves.

I am also interested in your approach to self-care so we can reflect on your own wellbeing and management of your caseload. It is important to be aware of your life/work balance and recognise any issues that might be having an impact on your counselling practice. We can look at different options and consider any changes that could be made to help you work ethically with your clients.  

• I have extensive training and experience working with young people (13+) and survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

• I am in private practice, counselling clients from different age groups and backgrounds.

• I have a Level 5 Certificate in Counselling Supervision and offer supervision to both student and qualified counsellors. I have experience as a counselling tutor at a local further education college teaching Level 2 and 3 Counselling Skills and the Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. 

If you are interested in working with me, we will arrange a free one-hour session to meet either face to face or on Zoom. This gives us the opportunity to discuss your needs and our expectations of the supervisory relationship. I will send you a copy of my Supervision Working Agreement beforehand for your consideration.

Working within the BACP Ethical Framework guidelines, we will explore our roles and responsibilities. This gives both of us the chance to ask and answer any questions we might have for each other which I feel is crucial to building a respectful, trusting alliance.

I am happy to work with supervisees learning and/or practising different modalities if we both feel this is appropriate.

I look forward to hearing from you.