Janine Clifton

I AM CURRENTLY FULL AND NOT TAKING ON NEW CLIENTS AT THIS TIME. 

PLEASE CHECK BACK IN THE FUTURE FOR UPDATES TO MY AVAILABILITY IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH ME. 

My name is Janine and I am a fully qualified person-centred counsellor and a registered member of the BACP. I work with adults and children aged 11+ on a 1-1 basis, offering both short-term and longer-term counselling face to face or online. There is no set amount of sessions that you have to have. We can discuss in our first session how we might work together.

I work from a calm, relaxing therapy room which offers a safe, confidential space for you to fully explore how you feel and be heard and understood, helping you to make sense of your experiences and find better ways of coping. 

There may be a specific life event such as a loss, redundancy, separation or divorce that has impacted your life, or you may be struggling with something else such as a past trauma, relationship/family problem, low mood/self-esteem, loss of purpose and identity or just feeling very lost and foggy-brained. Maybe your mojo has got up and gone and you'd like it back!

Whatever it is, I can help.

The first step in seeking support is often the hardest part and if you are feeling nervous about beginning therapy, that’s totally normal – most people do. I aim to put you at ease about what you can expect from me and the therapy process.

It’s really important to feel comfortable with whoever you chose to work with, so I offer a free no-obligation initial phone consultation to make sure we are a good fit for each other. 

There are many different types of therapy available in the counselling world - and I know it can all seem a bit confusing! I am trained in person-centred counselling which is great if you need time and space to talk about things without any judgement or being led in any particular direction. As a PC therapist, I have no agenda and will go with you wherever you feel you need to go. I absolutely believe in client autonomy, meaning you know yourself better than I will ever know you and you know deep down what is best for you. It may just be that you need a bit of impartial help and support while you're figuring it all out.

Talking to friends and family can be great, but sometimes even well-intentioned loved ones don't really understand the issue, or they give us well-meaning advice based on their own perspective. When you talk to a trained professional, you are free to express what's on your mind without fear of offending me, saying the wrong thing or feeling like a burden. Each session is totally focused on you.

I don't believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach to therapy and so I take an integrative approach and draw on several counselling theories and practices to support you in whatever way is best for you. These are things such as mindfulness, Transactional Analysis, Psychodynamic Theory, CBT exercises, The Inner Child Approach, to name a few. 

Choosing a counsellor can feel like a daunting task and it’s important to choose someone who you feel is the right fit for you. I wish you the very best of luck in your journey to feeling better.

If you'd like to arrange a free initial phone chat, contact me through the links above and I look forward to speaking with you soon.  

If you would like to find out more about working with me, the first step is to have a free initial phone consultation, which usually lasts between 20-30 minutes.  It allows me to obtain some information about what's troubling you and I will tell you about me and how I work as a therapist.  

It's a great opportunity for us to get to know each other before deciding if we are a good match.  You can ask me questions and we can discuss our availability and arrange a mutually convenient time and day for our first session.  On this call I will complete an Initial Assessment which helps me to determine if I am the right therapist for you. 

Once you're booked in, I send a confirmation email detailing the location of my counselling room and instructions on how to access the building.  I also attach a copy of my Counselling Contract for you to read ahead of our first session.  

In our first session together, we will go over our Counselling Contract and make sure that we both are happy to proceed.  

This first session is really important as it lays down the boundaries of our work together and it is where I will explain things like confidentiality within counselling and tell you about my ways of working, the monthly Supervision that I undertake and information about how I take and keep notes from our session.   

We will look at your goals for therapy and what you wish to get from the experience.  Even though a lot is covered in this first session, I fully encourage you to ask any questions you may have about the counselling process, even a few sessions in and we can always revisit our contract at any time.