Build your future
Online counselling with Louise Hewitson
ABOUT
It takes a great deal of courage and strength to admit when something in your life isn't going as you might hope, and that the resources you usually rely on don't seem to be working so well anymore. For some, a particular event or crisis can be the catalyst for seeking additional support, whilst for others, it can be a more longstanding sense of unhappiness, dissatisfaction or confusion. Either way, it can be a daunting prospect to seek help from a stranger and invite them to hear some of your innermost thoughts and feelings.
For therapy to be beneficial, it is essential that you feel supported when encountering difficult, unwelcome or overwhelming feelings. I can help you to explore the challenges you are facing in a respectful, non-judgmental and confidential space. Using the right balance of support and challenge for you, I aim to empower you to make positive changes in your life.
I regularly work with people struggling with anxiety, depression, low mood, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, loss, phobias and addictive behaviours amongst other issues.
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I use a variety of therapeutic techniques to offer the most effective treatment for your individual needs and to work towards the future you hope to create. To find out more about how I work, please click here.
My clinical experience has developed through working in a variety of settings. I have set up and managed a counselling service within a large NHS GP surgery and I am currently working as a Co-Director of a community counselling service, which operates as a charity, alongside my work in private practice.
I have a BA (Hons) degree in Integrative-Relational Counselling, am accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, and have undertaken training in EMDR levels 1-3. I also regularly attend Continuing Professional Development workshops to ensure my knowledge is up-to-date with current thinking and developments.
TESTIMONIALS
"The experience has been life changing. I feel incredibly relieved that I finally faced something I have been putting off for many years. Louise has helped me overcome many issues."
"All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination."
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- Earl Nightingale
HOW I WORK
The therapy I offer is integrative, which means that I believe that no one therapy is suitable for everyone, so I draw on a range of different theories and aim to treat you wherever you are at this moment in time.
I will use my knowledge and skills to think with you about your past and what impact that might have had on who you are now, whilst also working to address what might be troubling you today.
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​Everyone creates a different dynamic in relationships. We all bring something that people respond to. How you are with me in the room will give a really good indication of how you are in the world outside. I aim to use our relationship to gently highlight any particular patterns I might notice that could be out of your awareness. Becoming more self-aware gives us more choice - do you like what you see, or would you prefer to explore different ways of being?
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The sessions I offer are online, which I have many years' experience of delivering, and which I have found to be an incredibly effective way of delivering talking therapy and EMDR.
EMDR
A particularly powerful technique I also offer is Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), which can be woven into sessions to focus on particular issues. When we experience a traumatic event, bearing in mind that trauma can cover a whole spectrum of things, our brain goes into shock and does not process it in the way it would an ordinary experience. This means that this event can become 'frozen' in our minds and that whenever we think of it, we relive the same distressing emotions. This can lead to an avoidance of triggering these feelings, which may mean doing things differently in our lives to ensure we don't have to experience such feelings again.
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EMDR uses eye movements (a bit like simulating rapid-eye movement in sleep, although you are awake and fully conscious the whole time) to restart the processing which didn't happen at the time. It does not erase memories, but reduces and eliminates the emotional intensity associated with the traumatic experience so it can stay in the past with the memory where it belongs. Talking therapies can sometimes evoke further distress when revisiting trauma, but EMDR allows a non-invasive approach, where you don't need to talk about your past experiences if you don't want to, yet can still process them.
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EMDR has been in use since the 1980s and was originally developed to treat war veterans suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). It has since been proven to be effective in treating a much wider range of symptoms, including addressing addictive behaviours, reducing anxiety, and resolving phobias, amongst other things.
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If you would like to know more about EMDR and how it might help you, please do contact me.
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WHAT'S BEST FOR ME?
I'll work with you to explore what therapeutic approach would be most suitable for you. But it is your therapy, and so I will be led by you, whilst giving my professional opinion on what might be most effective for you.
"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."
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- Lao Tzu
COST
INITIAL CONSULTATION
An initial consultation is a two-way process for me to find out about what brings you to therapy and for you to get a sense of whether you feel that I would be the right person for you to work with.
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The initial consultation is charged at the standard rate.
STANDARD FEES
£60 per 50 minute session