Paul Carslake - online counselling

Coronavirus...

We have suspended our face-to-face sessions during this second lock-down, but our client work continues via Zoom, phone and outdoor sessions.

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SOME THOUGHTS ON COUNSELLING...

Counselling is about helping people find ways of dealing with the difficult stuff that comes at us during our lives. Part of this involves trying to get a deep sense of where these difficulties come from. And another aspect is about observing how we feel, behave and react in response to certain situations, and asking whether it has to be like this, every time. Experience shows us that nothing in our lives is fixed forever. Our capacity for change is a constant surprise.

My approach
Empathy, warmth, and, sometimes, just a bit of gentle humour: these are three aspects which I feel characterise my approach to talking therapy. There is science behind this too. Most clinical evidence on the effectiveness of talking therapies shows that the relationship between therapist and client is the biggest single factor in bringing about change – whatever ‘brand’ of therapy is being used.

How to get started
If you drop me an email or text, we can fix up a free 40-minute Zoom (or phone) consultation, during which you can talk about what's got you thinking about counselling, and I can tell you more about how we might be able to work together. If you decide to go ahead (and you don't have to decide during this call), we agree a suitable weekly time slot, and I will then send you a counselling agreement, which shows the day, time, and fee, as well as information about the confidentiality of the work.

More about my style of therapy
The therapy I offer falls broadly into the ‘psychodynamic’ category. This means we can think a bit about your past and explore how things might be getting repeated in the present. And it also means we can use aspects of the therapy room conversation to provide clues about patterns of relating in the world outside. If time is more limited, and we need to focus on just one specific aspect, then we use a slightly different brief therapy approach that looks more at the ‘now’, and rather less at the past.

How many sessions?
We agree this between the two of us. If you’re on a tight budget, we can have a focussed set of sessions (around eight sessions) aimed at tackling just one specific issue. However, the full benefit of talking therapy tends to play out over a longer time-frame. A set of 16 sessions, with the opportunity to renew, is a popular option.

emember, you pay for the sessions week-by-week, and you can stop your counselling at any time.

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Registered to work with:
Adults

Areas of work:

Abuse, Anger management. Anxiety, Bereavement, Cultural issues, Depression, Family relationships, Health related issues, Identity issues, Life coaching, Loss, Personal development, Relationships, Redundancy, Retirement, Self-esteem, Self-harm, Sexuality, Sexual identity, Stress, Trauma, Work related issues.

Counselling available: (*some of these are currently suspended)
Short term, long term, single-session therapy, face-to-face*, Zoom, telephone, outdoor*

Professional memberships:
Member: British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

Qualifications:

MSc (London) Psychodynamic Counselling & Psychotherapy

Cert. Higher Ed. Psychodynamic Counselling and Organisational Behaviour

BA (Hons) Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Publications:

Paul Carslake and Razwana Quadir (2019): Crash Course: Psychology
(UK: Ivy Press; USA: Metro Books)

Fees: (per 50-minute 'hour')
Phone and Zoom sessions: £48

Therapy room sessions (City & West End): £75

Therapy room sessions (South West London - Balham, Clapham, Wandsworth): £65

Outdoor sessions: £55

Next step:

Drop me a text or email and we'll fix up a short phone call.

Contacts:

Phone: 07833 855037
Email: paul.carslake@gmail.com