Cathleen Sullivan

I currently have availability to see clients in person at my home in Birmingham and online on Zoom.

I aim to reply to all enquiries within 24 hours or on my next working day.

However please note - I will on leave from Wednesday August 21st until Sunday September 1st . 

My usual workdays are Wednesday to Friday, 8.30am to 8.00pm. Please enquire about specific availability on these days.

In person sessions take place in a large comfortable wheelchair accessible room in my home.  There is plenty of free on-street parking, public transport nearby. 

 I also provide toilet facilities but unfortunately these are not suitable for disabled access.

Contacting a therapist for the first time can feel difficult. From the start I provide a safe, warm, open, flexible non-judgemental space, allowing you to communicate your needs and concerns at the right pace for you.

There are many different approaches to therapy but most strongly agree the relationship between client and therapist is the foundation of positive change and healing. Hence, I recommend taking the time to choose the right person for you.

To help you get a sense of me, me to get a sense of you and whether we might be a good match, I offer a free initial online consultation of up to 30 minutes. After all, it is wise to test the waters before you jump in! After this initial talk, there is absolutely no pressure to continue. If you want time to think about your next steps , that is fine with me.

People come to me because they are experiencing unhappiness or unease and want relief from their pain and distress. They may already identify need for a specific change but not know how to achieve it or may not know what is maintaining their difficulties. Some might even have little hope of feeling better but have decided to ‘give it a try at least’.

I will work collaboratively with you within a safe ethical framework with clear boundaries, putting your wellbeing and needs first. Building on my many years of being part of the therapy world and extensive training, I am equipped to draw on many different approaches . Together we will explore what is troubling you and identify the issues you want to address first.

I believe that in the long run my job is to empower you, helping you learn how to help yourself and ultimately to become your own therapist.

In the words of one client. 'Cathleen is an exceptional, understanding, and extremely skilled therapist who helped me immensely. I highly recommend Cathleen to anyone looking for a professional, caring and understanding counsellor. ‘

I have been involved in the therapy field for more than 40 years, learning from many different aspects of both personal and professional experience and training.

MY approach to therapy is relational , biopsychosocial and holistic. That means I am committed to working with the whole person –respecting their mind-body in the context of their environment, personal history, current situation and relationships.

After extensive work with local charities , I decided to establish my own private practice in counselling and psychotherapy in 2021, Both I as a therapist and clients benefit enormously from the flexibility this allows.

Training and Qualifications

My qualifications and relevant experience include

• MSc in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy - University of Derby 2021

• Qualified Registered Member of the BACP (MBACP) 2021

• Foundation Course in Gestalt Counselling (1997-2000)

• Master’s Degree in Social Work - New York University (1986- 1988) – specialising in counselling and mental health

• PhD in Immunology – University of Cambridge -1981

• BSc in Cellular Pathology 1976

• Worked in diverse settings including Counsellor / Therapist in a mental health social rehabilitation day centre, in specialist schools for emotional/ behavioural issues, on a Rape and Sexual Violence Helpline, as a therapist in a low-cost local counselling centre.

• Last but not least , I have benefited enormously from hundreds of hours over many years in personal psychotherapy.

• My personal belief is ‘willingness to walk the walk’ is just as important as ability to ‘talk the talk’ I would not want my ski instructor to have never skied before or only have been on the nursery slopes!

When you first contact me, we will agree a time for our first meeting online or on the telephone and I will send you a copy of my Counselling Agreement, so you will know right from the start my responsibilities to you, your responsibilities as a client, payment arrangements, confidentiality and its limits etc.

You can use this initial consultation as you choose. You may want to tell me the main issues troubling you and how they are affecting your life now. You should also feel free to ask me any questions about my background , training, qualifications and how I might suggest we work together.

After the free initial consultation, there is absolutely no obligation on either of us to continue. So, if you wanted to take some time to think about next steps that is fine with me.

Sometimes (not always!) even in this initial session , I may be able to make suggestions of how we might work together . For example, anxiety often has very clear mind and body components. So, I might suggest we first address how anxiety can become a physiologically self-reinforcing cycle so part of our work will be on breathing and grounding techniques. This helps reduce your stress, building a safer calmer space to address the underlying causes of your problems. Often clients experience considerable relief in feeling heard and knowing there are well tested effective approaches to addressing their problems based on a solid research foundations.

If you decide you want to explore further working with me, we will book an online or face-to-face session and sign the Counselling Contract. I may also ask you to complete some basic questionnaires. These can quickly give me a sense of what you are struggling with and provide a useful record of our starting point. In our first sessions we will be exploring together what has brought you to therapy now, get a sense of what is most important to address first and what might be the best ways to work together.