about cathy matthews
What sort of a counsellor am I?
I place great value on making therapeutic connections with others and feel that this process is one important factor that helps to keep people well. I believe this process is about bringing “quality” into a relationship. Sadly, this quality is often missing from our lives. We have become over-busy and, as a result, we do not give the time and interest to investigate what each of us really needs. This has happened at a cost to us personally and at a cost to society. So, my aim within a counselling situation or therapeutic connection is to help this quality to develop, thus enriching the relationship. I anticipate that my clients will be able to go away and enrich their own relationships and their own lives.
My mission as a counsellor
The whole of my working life has been about empowering individuals to achieve their goals. This has taken place within my roles as Teacher, Trainer, Counsellor and Clinical Supervisor. It is my belief that anyone, who so desires, can be supported to enable them to make their own choices, to gain in confidence and to manage the difficult situations that life throws at all of us.
About my training
As a Counsellor, I was trained within a Rogerian framework. This means that my clients are at the centre of this process. I use other tools where they are helpful and appropriate, including Transactional Analysis, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psycho-dynamic theories.
About me
What experience have I had that enables me to help others?
- 20 years teaching where I began to understand the beginnings of mental ill-health and the problems experienced by families and young people.
- Being married for 42 years and the ongoing negotiation and change that this entails.
- Raising four children and overseeing the problems experienced by young adults in our society.
- Experiencing and learning how to get myself out of depression.
- Caring for elderly parents.
- Dealing with loss and grief...
- Running a support group for people with eating disorders.
- Working for two years alongside a quadriplegic pupil.
- Training to be a Counsellor and involving myself in ongoing training to keep my knowledge and skills updated.
- Working for eleven years with clients experiencing or recovering from a wide range of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviour (OCD), substance and alcohol addiction.
- Dealing with redundancy and running a small business.
- Work-related problem solving.
- Relationship problems.
- Helping to manage change.
- Giving careers advice.
- Working with anger problems.
- Learning how our genetic inheritance and our experience can contribute to our emotional status.
Choosing the right counsellor for you
It is important that you choose the person and the model of counselling that is the most appropriate for you. Counselling is an investment in time, emotion and money for you: do you have enough information? Contact me to book an initial exploratory session: this will provide you with enough information to be able to make this decision.