Helen Cain

Hello and a warm welcome to my profile page.

Are you looking for help to make sense of a changing situation or feeling stuck where you are? Let's talk about finding your next step towards a more settled and fulfilling life.

I am a UK-based integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor and invite you to contact me for an initial free 25-minute call to see if we would be a good fit working together.

I offer you a calm and compassionate space in which to safely explore what is troubling you.

How I work

I believe in the power of both our mind and body to communicate when things aren't quite right. Discovering what is going on now by listening to these messages and being curious about the beliefs we learnt early in life about how to be in the world can often shed light on where this discourse originates.

My approach explores ways to welcome the person you really are instead of struggling to be the version that you needed to be then. Sometimes we need help creating a 'system update' when things are particularly difficult and we realise that coping strategies previously adopted in order to survive may not be serving us now.

Talking therapy is central to my practice but I also draw on creative interventions such as grounding, visualisation and focusing through mindfulness when words are hard to find.

Experience

I have a number of years experience working in private practice and education. Prior to this, I worked in addiction recovery, bereavement & loss support and in general practice. I have experience supporting people with the following:-

 - bereavement and living losses such as infertility, relationship break-ups, redundancy, retirement, sensory loss, physical and mental health diagnosis, 'empty-nest' & geographical dislocation

- counselling for visually impaired & blind people - guide dogs are very welcome in my practice room.

 -the physical & emotional effects of surviving trauma

 - self-regulation, relationships, self-esteem & identity

Online counselling

I adapted my therapeutic practice during the Covid-19 pandemic, to offer a meaningful alternative to face to face work. Having qualified as a certified practitioner to work online, I continue to offer you video and telephone sessions across the working week, some evenings and Saturday mornings.

Online work enables you to access counselling support at a time and in a place that is right for you. This may, perhaps, give you more possibilities to access support whilst also managing your existing commitments.

Practice room - In-person therapy

I also have a quiet practice room in a central village location in rural Suffolk. This is just 15 minutes’ drive from Bury St. Edmunds and enables me to offer in-person therapy too.

Both options offer you safe and confidential space to explore personal concerns or a particularly painful issue you may be facing. Many of us experience difficult emotions at certain challenging times in life, some of which are detailed below in terms of what I can help with.

Human Toolbox 

As well as being a counsellor, I am also a trained ‘Human Toolbox’  practitioner. This is a powerful psycho-educational tool, used to explain why we respond in certain ways to the experiences we face. It is solution focused; it sets out how we can harness the innate tools we already possess within us to take control and find healthier, more informed choices of responding to life’s ever-changing situations.

Anxiety and depression are normal bodily responses to difficult situations but often our coping mechanisms and behaviours fuel our stress response rather than enable us to manage more effectively.

I integrate this awareness into my counselling practice, together with creative interventions, breathwork and mindful, somatic awareness. My aim is to empower you to develop the internal resources that generate greater self-compassion, confidence, energy and joy.

I am also a member of the 'Creative Counsellors' organisation.

To begin, we will talk through your intake questionnaire, your contract and counselling agreement. I will invite you to share what brings you to therapy and to learn something of your hopes for the future.

I aim to create a sense of safety and trust. Where you feel secure to openly tell your story, without judgement. I offer you kindness, patience and encouragement.

Moving towards healing

I believe we all possess the inner wisdom and knowledge to know what is best. But we can sometimes feel stuck between staying with what is familiar but no longer serving us and choosing a new and unknown alternative. Becoming open to this is part of the process, it is a sign of change, but this is difficult to do alone.

I will notice, reflect, gently wonder and steadfastly ‘sit alongside’ you as you observe and discover new, and sometimes painful truths. You have the capacity to re-write your narrative, find courageous new ways forward and separate your past, present and future. This takes patience and time but offers a chance to find who you were meant to be, in the lighter space that is healing.

Governance

I work within the BACP ‘Ethical Framework for Counsellors’ and also the BACP Guidelines for Online Counselling and Psychotherapy. I will explain that the content of our sessions will not be shared with anyone else, except for the purposes of supervision of my clinical work, or in the instance of a disclosure where I believe you, or someone close to you, may be in imminent harm.

At Integro Counselling, we are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Information you provide to us will only be used in accordance with the privacy statement available on our website. We hold a licence with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and our licence number is: ZA815346.