Welcome to Accessible Therapies
Explore, Express, Heal, Grow
Psychotherapy, Counselling and Art Therapy in Blandford, Dorset and Online.
Hello, I'm Sue.
I am an experienced Integrative Art Psychotherapist and offer a warm, empathetic approach to supporting you with compassion as you navigate life’s challenges. My service provides in-person and online therapy to adults in a confidential and non-judgemental setting. I also work in person with Dorset-based groups and organisations.
These pages provide you with an introduction to my services where you can read information about my approach, qualifications, and experience and learn more about how we might work together in a session.
Making the decision to see a counsellor is a big step to take - but it can be a positive one. Please read on to find out more about how I could help you.
Working With Me
When you contact me, we will have an initial discussion to talk about what is troubling you. If you decide you would like us to work together, we will arrange an assessment session when I will ask questions to obtain necessary background information before starting our first therapy session.
I work with you at your own pace to support you in exploring your thoughts and emotions during a session. My role is to provide a nurturing therapeutic place of safety, trust, and support to help you to begin making sense of what has brought you to therapy. We will collaboratively work on drawing out and identifying what can sometimes feel like a tangle of messy emotions that can be difficult to make sense of on your own.
I understand that it is not always easy to know how or where to begin and will listen carefully to your story as it unfolds. There is no hurry or need to rush and I'll support you to find a starting point and to express it in a way of your choosing.
While I listen and reflect on what you're telling me, I'll make observations but will not tell you what to do or give you advice. My aim is to empower you to come to your own realisations and decisions, and we will identify and work with your existing personal strengths and resilience to facilitate further change and understanding.
Art therapy offers a gentle way of working through issues that are causing you discomfort or distress.
I believe the most important element in our therapeutic collaboration is building a trusting relationship that enables you to feel safe, supported, and at ease to begin exploring your story as it unfolds. As an integrative person-centred therapist, I work with the core values of unconditional positive regard, acceptance, and congruence (being real, genuine, and sincere with clients), and use elements of other therapeutic approaches that adapt to the needs of the person I’m working with.
I am a registered member of three professional regulatory bodies (BACP, BAAT, HCPC), and abide by their practice guidelines and ethics. I hold practice insurance and participate in monthly professional supervision for my work.
For clients, the first step is often the hardest when seeking help and support. Reach out when you are ready.
To learn more about Art Therapy Counselling please see here.
What issues can art therapy counselling help with?
I offer a service to support specific issues, or general feelings of unease and distress that may be troubling you. These include:
- Trauma
- Low mood or depression
- Anxiety
- Bereavement, grief and loss
- Self-esteem
- Relationships
- Life transitions and change
- Other issues that may be causing you distress
This list is not exhaustive and there may be many reasons for seeking therapy. For example, feeling 'lost', stuck, wanting to achieve goals, or explore other challenging life experiences not listed above. Sometimes we find it difficult to pinpoint why we're feeling emotional distress or unease. Art therapy counselling provides a gentle way of exploring intangible issues which may lay beneath our surface consciousness, in a safe, supportive environment.
Location
I offer in-person counselling sessions in Blandford and throughout Dorset and online sessions via zoom for those located elsewhere in the UK.
Sessions and Fees
Sessions last for 60 minutes and usually take place on a weekly basis. Your slot will be reserved for you on the same day, at the same time, which means it is not available for anyone else. It is therefore important that if you want to cancel an appointment, I require a minimum of 24 hours notice, otherwise you will still need to pay for any sessions missed.
My fee is £65 for a one-to-one 60 minute session, payable by bank transfer on the day of each session.
Concessions may be available for people with limited resources.
Please contact me for other fees (group sessions, expressive art community workshops, staff wellbeing & team building).
Frequently asked questions
You may have questions about counselling and art therapy, feel unsure if it is right for you, or know where to start. The following questions may provide some answers. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
No, definitely not. My core professional training is in art therapy, but I also have knowledge and experience of working with other therapeutic approaches. It is important that you feel comfortable in the work we are doing and we can focus solely on using talking therapy in counselling if you would prefer to work in that way. Art therapy can be introduced into subsequent sessions at any time if you think you would like to try it.
When you make initial contact with me, we will discuss your reasons for seeking therapy at this time, and what it is you hope to gain from sessions.
You will have the opportunity to ask me any questions about the art therapy process, how I work, and if art therapy is likely to be a good fit for you. As mentioned above, we can focus solely on using talking therapy in counselling if you would prefer to work in that way.
Together, we will continue to assess that fit as sessions progress to ensure you are benefitting. It is very much a collaborative process.
Not unless you want to. When using art therapy, the session will include talking and image making but there will be no pressure on you to talk about your feelings more than you want to, and not at all until you feel ready and comfortable to do so.
The sessions are facilitated by a trained, experienced art therapist and offer the opportunity for you to express any, and all, of your emotions in a therapeutic, confidential, and non-judgemental setting.
The sessions are conducted in a safe, informal, and relaxed environment enabling you to creatively explore your emotions and experiences.
You will be supported to work at your own pace and to start when you feel ready. I understand that it can feel daunting sometimes to begin making an image on a blank piece of paper, especially for your first session. You can take your time and settle into the session without feeling any pressure to commence the image making.
I will go through the art materials with you and encourage you to start using something that appeals or 'jumps out at you' (for example, a colour, texture, or shape). Once you have made that first mark on the paper, it usually becomes much easier to engage and become engrossed in the process.
There is no right or wrong way to create images in art therapy. Whatever you do is personal to you. It doesn't matter what it looks like and you do not need any artistic ability to participate in, or benefit from, the art therapy process.
Counselling is usually a good way to help with a current problem; something that can be discussed and - hopefully - resolved within a limited number of sessions. Over a certain number of weeks the understanding of the problem improves and a way forward becomes clear. Therapy often describes work that goes a bit deeper, towards more substantial life issues and problems having a deeper effect on the client’s life. Therapy often requires a long-term approach, so the number of sessions can be open-ended.
Which option is most suitable depends on the client and the difficulties they are facing. In some cases counselling works well as an ongoing, longer-term option - or therapy can manage to resolve an issue in just a few sessions.
How long a period of counselling lasts will vary from person to person and depend on the depth of the issues they are facing. For some people a couple of sessions helps to bring their problems into focus, and they feel ready to move forward; other problems may require more of an open-ended approach.
We will periodically review our progress and as long as we both agree further therapy will be of benefit to you, sessions can continue.
My aim is to offer a first appointment - known as an assessment - within 1-2 weeks. Then we would arrange an initial number of counselling sessions to take place at the same time every week, that is convenient for you and where I have availability. How quickly these sessions can begin will depend on the availability of that free ‘slot’.
Everything that is said within the counselling room is private - this is one of the main ways counselling and therapy differ from talking to a friend or relative. Once you are comfortable with the format of weekly sessions and the safe space they provide, you will find the freedom to speak in confidence is of great value.
Note that there are some situations where you may be a risk to yourself or others, and there the law requires that I notify an authority; in these cases I may not be able to keep total confidentiality. Breaking confidentiality is very rare though, and only happens after the person concerned has been informed.
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how art therapy counselling works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
You can also call me on 07732 095523 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an initial appointment.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.