Amanda Chapman

I offer flexible sessions Monday to Friday, daytime and early evening. The frequency of your sessions is up to you as I understand therapy is not cheep. 

I am an accredited Integrative Psychotherapist at Master's level delivering face to face therapy mostly to adults and some older teens. Together we build your skills and understanding based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Attachment Theory within a Person-Centred approach. Sessions take place within a dedicated and privately accessed therapy room that is welcoming and secure. I will professionally and compassionately guide your exploration of your unique lived experiences brought to the sessions. This is your space, your time. This is done through talking or using a range of accessible resources to look into the function of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This offers you individual insight, greater understanding and personal empowerment. This is all underpinned by theoretical models, all set within an ethical process, linked to Stages of Change. This individual approach; client’s leave with a holistic understanding of themselves, others, and their world. Informed insight of the self helps maintain positive and lasting change. Drawing on the integration of theories, means client’s are better able to access the counselling that suits them and their needs. I’ve worked in education since the late ’80s and whilst transitioning to this profession, I was Early Years Behaviour Consultant for Derby City Council for 10 yrs. As a qualified psychotherapist of 12 yrs, I have worked in both the charity sector and private practice, supporting a wide-range of clientele. Be that age, gender, sexuality, culture, economic status or faith. If you want to try personal therapy, to "get started" text or email me to set up a brief phone chat before deciding to step into your first session.

Integrative Therapy draws on three therapeutic approaches. In my case Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Attachment Theory and Person-Centred (PC). In basic terms CBT seeks to uncover your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and how they link to one another and linked to early Core Beliefs and your established Rules for Living ie I must, I have to, if I don’t then etc. Whilst talking about your present and past thoughts, feeling and behaviours to key events and experiences, we will explore the workings of your Attachment style. This looks at your early life experiences and interactions to key adults and how that then created an understanding of the world around you at an early stage of development and how that speaks to you now in your relationship with yourself and others. PC places you at the centre of the therapy, meaning you are given a secure and boundaried space to talk your truth because it feels safe, non-judgmental, honest, warm, and empathic.     

Before your first session, you will be emailed the Therapy Contract. This document sets out what will become the mutually agreed boundaries and conditions of the therapy on offer, alongside a confidentiality and safeguarding agreement. This contract is discussed as part of the initial session to ensure understanding and to answer any further queries and is often a path into our therapeutic chat. If you feel comfortable talking about what has brought you to therapy, then you are given the space to do that. If that does not fit with you then a gentle exercise is provided to facilitate 'opening-up. Looking at goals and expectations of therapy will also be explored together in this session in an organic way. All sessions are evaluated and used to inform the therapy. My aim is to enable the client to have a voice that is heard and thus respected in holding their value.