Veda Tester - Person Centred Counsellor

My Approach

I invite you to be heard with empathy, with acceptance of you, whatever you bring, with honesty and without judgement. I hope to create a space you feel safe to explore, to be curious about your internal world and feel able to express yourself without fear. I will walk by your side through the journey of your self-development, and will endeavour to see the world as you do with the aim of finding clarity, acceptance, self-empowerment, self-love - whatever it is you would like to bring into your life going forward.

Person Centred Therapy is a non-directive approach, which means you will be free to discuss anything you feel you need to, and the sessions will flow to wherever they need to, we don't need to go through your childhood with a nit comb or speak about your relationship with your parents, unless that's what you want to do! Carl Rogers (the guy who brought person centred therapy to the world) believed our childhoods and relationships to significant others create a blueprint through which we view ourselves and the world around us, sometimes the messages we've taken from childhood are helpful, and sometimes unhelpful. As adults we can revisit these messages or beliefs and change them.

My hope is that I can assist you in this.

In our first session we will explore what you are hoping to achieve through your therapeutic journey, and get a feel to whether we will work well together. Our relationship is an important factor in the therapeutic process and can shine a light on how you relate in the world outside as well as how you relate to yourself. Learning to be in a relationship where you can fully express your needs, desires, values and beliefs can feel scary and can take time, however learning to be with another in this way can unlock the potential to feel freer and more whole.

I work with creativity, play and expressive arts to engage with the unconscious self with the belief that the process of creativity is an integral part of being a human. This method of working can sometimes produce surprising insights however I realise creativity itself can feel challenging and so whether these are used is completely up to you, this is your journey after all!