Caroline Velarde

Hello, how are you really feeling? Are you able to voice your needs? Are you constantly too critical of yourself? Are you finding it hard to say no to people? Are you overwhelmed and running on empty? What’s your stress and anxiety level? How is your love relationship? Do you have social anxiety? Are you feeling sad and don't know why? So many questions and issues that we all feel at times with a different level of intensity. Don’t wait and let it build up to overwhelming levels. I believe that I can help you reflect on those issues if they resonate with you and help you live a happier and healthier life, more connected to your true self. 

Counselling is about building a trustworthy and safe relationship between you and your counsellor, so choosing the right therapist for you is important. Let me introduce myself: I am a Bilingual French/English qualified integrative counsellor and psychotherapist and an accredited member of BACP.

I believe that it takes an incredible amount of strength and courage to take the first step to acknowledge that you need help and seek counselling, so you should be proud of yourself.

I have a person-centred, non-directive approach and will provide you with a caring, empathic, confidential and safe space to feel free to open up and explore your thoughts and feelings, fears and hopes at your own pace and without expectation or judgement. It can feel daunting to share personal issues but you don’t have to feel ashamed or embarrassed about anything as I am not here to judge you.   I am not here to give you advice either and fix you, but to help you gain a different perspective on your problem, enhancing self-awareness and feeling empowered to find your own answers. 

- I can offer therapy in French and English.

- Accredited Member of BACP.

- CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling.

- TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health (RQF)

- Trained as a therapist in a community counselling service in South London.

- Worked as a Crisis Volunteer at Shout, the first UK text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. 

- I am experienced in working with clients with a wide range of emotional needs including, low self-worth, generalised anxiety disorder, depression, family and relationship issues, loneliness, adverse childhood experiences and the impact of trauma.

- I started my working life in the Banking industry before training to become a therapist, which allows me to be very familiar and understand high pressure in a competitive corporate industry that can result in anxiety, stress, low self-confidence and low self-esteem issues.

- I also have years of experience and interest in disability and special needs, especially people who are carers to someone with a disability, often resulting in loss of identity.

- I am a well travelled person and I am curious and passionate to talk to people from a wide and diverse range of culture and interests. 

- I am an Integrative therapist, which means that I draw on a number of modalities and will tailor sessions according to your needs in that moment. Familiar with Person-Centred, Psychodynamic therapies, Inner Child work, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis and Attachment Theory, I will help you explore your past and present, your authentic needs and your behavioural patterns. 

- Drop me a line and I would be very happy to organise a free 15 minute telephone call to go through how I work, and you can tell me what your struggles are and we can decide whether we can work together.

- If you decide to work with me, after we have agreed on a day and time to meet, I will send you my contract outlining all practical details (confidentiality, payment details, cancellation policy, GDPR, etc).

- Our first session will be to get to know each other and it will be important to clearly understand your goals and expectations of counselling, know if you had any previous therapy and do some history taking.