Counselling Services
Individual Counselling
An initial 30 minutes consultation is offered free of charge so that you can get to know The Conwy Counsellors and decide whether it’s for you.
Thereafter, sessions are 50 minutes long and usually on a weekly basis. Counselling is a shared working process that works best with commitment from both client and counsellor, and regular contact is generally the most effective. Counsellor and client will review progress together on a frequent basis so as to work towards optimal outcome for the client.
Counselling is offered at safe, professional and comfortable locations in Llandudno, and is available with either a female or a male counsellor.
Counselling is offered in a safe, empathic and non-judgmental way using, variously, the Person Centred, integrative, Acceptance and Commitment (ACT), and Narrative therapeutic models.
Both therapists working at The Conwy Counsellors are registered individually with the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) – counselling’s professional body – and practice in strict accordance with the BACP’s ‘Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling & Psychotherapy’.
The Conwy Counsellors are thoroughly grounded in working with clients experiencing the following:
- Depression
- Relationship breakdown
- Bereavement and loss
- Loneliness
- Anger (group/individual Anger Management training available)
- Anxiety
- Illness
- Overwork and burnout, particularly among professions such as the Church, blue-light emergency services, clinicians, and business
- Adult survival of childhood sexual abuse and trauma
- Trauma and distress encountered while serving in operational environments with the Armed Forces
- Alcohol and substance misuse
Group work in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness
Bespoke courses based on proven packages are available to employers, statutory healthcare providers, charities, and others, for both their own staff and for their service users. A number of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) courses are being delivered during 2015 by The Conwy Counsellors for and on behalf of Llandudno-based mental health charity Aberconwy Mind.
Acceptance Therapy courses teach participants to proactively reduce stress in their lives, manage negative thoughts, low moods and anxieties, and to develop coping skills for dealing with difficult thoughts and feelings.
The Mindfulness training package delivers stress-reduction and self-awareness techniques for managing the rigours of day-to-day life and the workplace, and promotes well-being and good health.
Fiona Smith was trained as both a Teacher of Mindfulness-based courses and as a Mindfulness supervisor at Bangor University’s internationally-renowned Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice.
Further details on both Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness courses, can be obtained by emailing ask@theconwycounsellors.co.uk .
Mindfulness Explained
The Mental Health Foundation describes Mindfulness as “an integrative, mind-body based training that helps people to change the way they think and feel about their experiences – especially stressful experiences – [and] is recommended for people with mental ill-health as well as those who want to improve their mental health and wellbeing.”
“Training helps people to become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and body sensations so that, instead of being overwhelmed by them, they’re better able to manage them. Practicing Mindfulness can give more insight into emotions, boost attention and concentration, and improve relationships.”
“There are also different sorts of Mindfulness meditation which can help people in different ways. Evidence shows compelling support for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and for Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which is designed to help people with recurring depression. They provide a flexible set of skills to manage mental health and support wellbeing.”
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Explained
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an innovative therapy that takes its name from one of its core messages which is that each of us can, if we choose or find it in ourselves to, accept what is beyond our personal control and then commit to taking action that makes positive and enriching change to our outlook on life.
ACT, which is said as the word ‘act’ and not as the letters A-C-T, acknowledges that life can be hard-going at times but aims to foster in us the ability to create a meaningful and, ultimately, rewarding existence while at the same time accepting the pain that living and being can bring.
Author and trainer Russ Harris MD, a leading practitioner in the field, describes ACT (‘ACT Made Simple’, New Harbinger, 2009) as working by:
- teaching us psychological skills to handle painful thoughts and feelings effectively, in such a way that they have much less impact and influence (these are known as Mindfulness skills)
- helping us clarify what’s truly important and meaningful to us – that is, to clarify our values – and use that knowledge to guide, inspire and motivate us to set goals and take action that enriches our lives