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I am an experienced, established counsellor (since 2011) and registered member of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ), with thousands of hours practice accrued within the NHS. I worked in an expert reference group for the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ, co-writing the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ Workplace counselling competence framework and I am the author of the supporting user guide for this framework.

​I trained as a counsellor, following a career in HR and Marketing, as my compassion for people motivated me to work in a career that can bring solace, reduce feelings of loneliness and champion clients to engage in their own healing and personal growth.

I worked within Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust for over ten years, progressing from Staff Counsellor, to Counselling Services Manager to Business and Operations Manager within an Occupational Health NHS Joint Venture. For eight of those years I managed counsellors and multiple counselling services, providing services to a variety of public sector organisations.

I am qualified in the approaches of Person-Centred Counselling and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Additionally, I am working towards certification in Imago Relationship Therapy, having completed the Foundation Course.

I trained as a Clinical Supervisor following enjoying managing and mentoring counsellors within the NHS. I practice in a cyclical model approach.

Research has shown that the relationship between counsellor and client is more instrumental to counselling outcomes than the model of counselling used. I work hard to offer you a safe, supportive relationship you can utilise to achieve therapeutic change. I received extremely positive client feedback throughout my NHS service and understand the importance of the client and counsellor relationship.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss what I can offer you and so you can decide if I am the right counsellor for you.  My website is www.kerrythorpetherapy.co.uk

I deeply believe that you are the expert on your own life and I aim to provide the therapeutic conditions to enable you to explore, heal, grow, accept or clarify what you need to. This belief informed my decision to train in Person-Centred Therapy, where the therapy moves at the client's pace and is led by them, with room for supportive challenge, when the therapeutic relationship deepens.

When I had accrued years of experience as a Person-Centred Therapist I chose to train in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a value based approach, coined as "third wave" cognitive behavioural therapy. I find that ACT integrates well with a person-centred approach and adds the option of a more action based approach to therapy for clients who prefer to work with strategies and exercises.

While I can work in this integrative way, I explore with clients whether one approach or an integration of both could work well for what they are bringing and their own personality.

I began training in Imago Relationship Therapy, after reading extensively about the approach and admiring the way the session structures support a respectful exchange, creating potential for the relationship to flourish.

I have practiced in the specialisms of domestic abuse, obstetrics and gynaecological and workplace counselling.

​I commit to regular continuous professional development and clinical supervision to support maintaining my ability to provide you with a supportive, non-judgemental, accepting environment. In your counselling sessions I aim to make your experiences, successes and needs the most important focus in the room.

I offer a free 15 minute consultation telephone call, so we can briefly discuss whether the types of therapy I offer may be supportive to the issues you are bringing.  The first session I offer includes a more comprehensive assessment of what you want from counselling and the challenges you are experiencing.  For individual counselling the duration and fee for this session is the same as subsequent sessions.  For Imago relationship counselling I offer a one hour session for the assessment, whereas subsequent sessions are one and a half hours and can be offered fortnightly.