Katy Ruffels

• Mondays 10am-3pm

• Tuesdays 12-6pm

• Wednesdays 10am-3pm

• Saturdays 10am-1pm

I’m available for both in-person and online work at these times and sessions last 50 minutes. 

Are you looking for support through your grief? Do you need to talk through big, complicated and painful feelings? Maybe you just need somewhere to be real, to let everything out – a break from trying to be OK.

I provide compassionate and professional bereavement counselling in Brighton and Hove, as well as online. I’m fully qualified, with a Level 4 Diploma in Integrative Therapeutic Counselling and with specialist training and experience in working with grief.

I’m a Humanistic counsellor, and at the base of my work is the person-centred approach. This means I will follow your lead, trusting that you know what’s most important and where the pain lies. But this non-directive approach doesn’t mean I’m a passive participant. I’ll give you my full attention, noticing and reflecting, and holding your feelings gently as together we explore your experience of loss. 

At its simplest, bereavement counselling is a much-needed opportunity to talk about the person – or people – you have lost, and for your grief to be witnessed.

Perhaps you need to talk about the rollercoaster of feelings, worries, physical symptoms and behavioural changes that a bereavement can bring.

Sometimes assumptions about what is ‘normal’ can make it hard to trust the natural grieving process. So, if it feels relevant, I can share information and ideas that may help you find new ways to understand your grief.

Whatever the circumstances of your loss, our sessions are where you might begin to make sense of it, to identify your needs, to make connections with other parts of your life and to consider what healing might look like. 

I understand how daunting this process can be so I’m careful to make the first step as comfortable as possible.

When you contact me, I’ll get back to you to arrange a 15-minute phone call, with no cost and absolutely no obligation. You can see whether I sound like someone you could talk to, and I can make sure I can meet your needs. If you conclude I’m not for you, that’s no problem at all.

If we’re both agreed then the next step is an initial assessment session, either online or in person. This is a full 50-minute session but charged at a reduced rate of £25 (because at this stage we haven’t yet committed to work together.) Here we can talk more fully about what has brought you to counselling, what you hope to gain from it and how I might be able to help.

Then, if we’re both on board, it’s simply a case of agreeing a weekly time slot, whether that’s for short-term or long-term therapy.

Even if you never imagined yourself having counselling and you’re not sure how you feel about it, I’d love to hear from you.