Kathleen Richardson

Based in Brentford, I work online and face to face in Ealing with availability during the day and evening. I currently have some concessionary spaces available.

Hybrid arrangements can be beneficial if, for example, you can do face-to-face in term time but not in school holidays. Please discuss.

We build a relationship together that enables you to explore what you need from therapy and to make it happen.

Counselling is about wanting to change, recognising that you cannot do it all on your own. Seeking counselling is reaching out for a helping hand, often while feeling reluctant to acknowledge a need for help.

Chosing a counsellor from a directory is a somewhat random choice necessitating a leap in the dark, trying to guess from a photo and some words whether a counsellor could be the right one for you. An introductory phone call gives us both the chance to find that out before committing to a session.

Then we start to build a relationship between the two of us, developing trust and a confidence that enables the work to be done. Working together, we will explore what is going on for you and discover what you wish to do about it and how you might achieve these changes.

It's not an easy journey and is rarely pain-free but my role is to accompany you and lessen the burden.

Do look around my website for more details of me, the person-centred approach I follow, and how it all works.

I work with individual clients, both short and long term.

It can take four to six sessions to settle in to the way counselling works. You may be able to open up straight away or you may find it really hard to get started. The first few sessions are about establishing a relationship, and getting used to the process.

Counselling can seem to meander. It does not go in a straight line but can jump all over the map of your life in what might feel like a random pattern that may become less random as connections are discovered. Trivial things can lead to deeper truths.

When you start a session it is up to you where you wish to start. You may pick up from where you finished the previous session or choose to discuss a conversation you had that morning. You choose what feels important to you.

We will periodically review how counselling is working for you and whether it’s meeting your needs. This includes discussing whether you’re ready to end. Endings can be abrupt due to a change in circumstances but benefit from being planned and worked towards. Sometimes you need to take a break from therapy and come back when you’re ready for the next stage.

Before we start therapy together, we will book a telephone call where we will spend around 15 minutes getting a feel for each other so that we can decide whether we can work together. I will listen to what you have to say in a supportive accepting manner. I will explain how we could work together.

This is not therapy, just an introductory conversation. Feel free to ask any questions and share any concerns. If you’ve been to therapy before you might like to talk about how that was for you and what you are looking for this time. Everything we say in this conversation, as well as the mere fact that you’ve made contact is completely confidential. A full privacy notice is available on my website.