Elaine Ashby

Please note I am not currently taking on any new clients.  I will review this in January 2024. I wish you all the best in finding a therapist. However, if youa re unsuccessful please do check back with me in January 2024.

I will provide a safe space where you will be able to talk, without fear of being judged. I will give you my undivided attention and truly listen and offer empathy and honesty, for as long as is necessary.

Your sessions are a private space to explore whatever issues and concerns you choose to bring to the session. The aim is to achieve a trusting therapeutic relationship where together we can understand what is going on for you and to help you move forward. We will regularly review your progress together and when appropriate , work towards an ending of the therapy.

I am a qualified counsellor working near Guildford, with a diploma in therapeutic counselling and a certificate in counselling young people. My practice integrates person centred theory and existential philosophy. My client work is also informed by solution focused therapy.

My experience, counselling in Farnham, has been developed from working with bereaved and pre-bereaved clients and their families at Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham, near Aldershot. I work part of my week at the hospice, supporting carers and families who have either lost a loved one or are living with a family member with a terminal illness. My role includes offering one to one support at the hospice, over the telephone or using multimedia, such as Zoom or WhatsApp. It also includes the planning and facilitation of support groups for bereaved children and young people. Within my role I have worked with anger, anticipatory grief, anxiety, bereavement and loss, depression, exam stress, family issues, illness, death and dying, loneliness, relationship difficulties and self-harm

As a counsellor in the Farnborough area, I have also gained valuable experience of working with adults from my time at Connect Counselling Services in Camberley. Issues I have worked with included anxiety, co-dependency, depression, eating disorder, grief, low self-esteem, parent support, relationship issues, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and work issues.

Your sessions will typically last 50 minutes and will usually be at regular weekly or fortnightly intervals. 

In your first session I will take you through my contract, including confidentiality and take a few details to help me to assess if I am the right person to help you or if an onward referral would be in your best interests. I will then give you the opportunity to ask questions, and also invite you to share what is going on in your life and what has brought you to counselling.

The aim of this first session is to give you the information you need to decide if you wish to proceed with counselling and on what terms.  For example, you may want to only focus on one area or you may be looking for long term counselling or something in between. This first session is where we decide together what your expectations are from counselling. However, if you are not sure we can take the time you need to work it out together.  There is no pressure and I do not expect you to have all the answers. The joy of counselling is to spend time with a professional who can help you to increase your self awareness and give you the opportunity to make the changes you want and live your life more authentically.