ONLINE COUNSELLING, BASED IN Bishop’s Stortford
Corinne Crawford
“The Online Counsellor”
Providing counselling to adults in the UK for trauma, stress and grief. While I may integrate different approaches, my work is underpinned by a person-centred approach which is integrative and trauma informed. I work mostly with stress, anxiety and coping, relationship issues, trauma, grief, pregnancy loss and terminal diagnosis in pregnancy, and coping with life changes in general.
I provide counselling for people who have many different problems. I have worked with healthcare workers balancing work and home life, professionals and business owners who have never had the chance to deal with past traumas or relationship difficulties, women who have experienced pregnancy loss, cancer patients, moms, dads or young adults who are having trouble with managing difficult relationships or the stresses of life.
Maintaining mental and emotional wellness is an important part of optimal functioning. Please get in touch if you would like to know more about my counselling services.
I offer Video-based counselling/tele-therapy which helps to meet needs for convenient, affordable, and readily accessible mental health services. Online counselling is an especially convenient alternative to traditional face-to-face services which offers comfort for the client from their own home, sessions can be squeezed into busy schedules as drive time doesn’t have to be taken into account, and incurs no transport costs, and these make my services more accessible for mums, students, those with health/limitations and or simply with a busy lifestyle.
Online counselling does however have some limitations. It is for example not an appropriate medium if you are seriously depressed, have serious substance dependence, or you are experiencing intense suicidal or homicidal thoughts. Seeing a mental health professional face-to-face is recommended in these situations. This is not a Crisis Response service. If you have urgent well-being concerns or are in crisis please contact your GP, GP out of hours service, NHS 111 or The Samaritans on 116 123 (UK & ROI) in the first instance.
Holistic approach
The counselling process should be a collaboration between the counsellor and client. Every client's needs are different and require an individualised approach to reaching the goals set. I believe in a holistic approach to problem solving that takes into consideration physical health, who the client is and at what stage of their lives they are in, and, the social and cultural contexts that they are from, while drawing on existing strengths to achieve self-growth and wellness.
Trauma-informed approach
A trauma informed approach seeks to develop an awareness of the widespread impact of negative experiences (trauma) on life experience and relationships through psycho-education. It recognises that a person's outlook, emotions and behaviour are influenced by their history. This means that past experiences and relationships can play a part in the development of your presenting issues today. A trauma informed approach can be applied to anyone not just to people with obvious serious trauma histories. I believe in empowering my clients to learn and practice skills that they can take forward with them beyond our sessions.
Person-centred approach
A person-centred approach helps clients to explore their own issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, and worldview, so they can become more self-aware and achieve greater independence. Through unconditional positive regard, being honest and transparent and empathic, the person- centred counsellor helps their client to achieve psychological growth and development. Of the utmost importance, is the quality of the relationship between client and therapist.
What issues can counselling help with?
People come to me for help with a wide range of issues. Here are a few of the more common difficulties that can be supported through counselling:
Stress and Anxiety
Relationship issues
Trauma and abuse
Coping with grief, loss and bereavement
Coping with Life changes
Depression
Family Conflict
Motivation, Self-esteem and Confidence
Career difficulties
Compassion Fatigue
Women's Health
Caregiver issues and stress
Communication problems
Expats and Immigration
Young adult issues
HIV/AIDS
Life purpose
Conflict management
Pregnancy and childbirth
Endometriosis
Fees & availability
I work online so you will need a stable internet connection with enough data and a private space (no one else present in the room).
I use a specialised GDPR compliant software called Isosconnect to conduct my sessions. After the session has been scheduled, you will receive an email with a link for our session. You will not need to download any software or create a login. Simply open the link at the time of your appointment.
Counselling sessions are usually 50 minutes in duration.
• Regular weekly sessions discount (4 sessions in a month) £50 per session
• Individual Drop-in session for mental health maintenance £55
• Under 25’s discount £45 per session
Payment is due at time of booking your appointment or at least 24 hours before your appointment time. If you need to cancel or rearrange, I ask that you provide me with 24 hours notice so I have the possibility of filling that appointment again.
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how counselling works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
You can also call me on 07415 988671 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an appointment.
Click here to go to my online bookings portal.
About Me
I studied a Bachelor of Arts in Health Psychology at the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg), South Africa, which gave me a great foundation in physiology, anatomy, illnesses and the mind-body connection. I was selected to complete the Honours B Psychology (Counselling) achieving cum laude/ with distinction in 2006. Training included Adult Developmental Psychology, Ethics and Legislation, HIV/AIDS counselling, Assessment/Psychometric skills, Psychopathology, Therapeutic Psychology, Intervention Planning, Intervention Skills, and Diagnostic Skills as well as a 720 hour internship. During the 18 month course, I worked at the Meadowlands Police Station in Soweto, Anchor High School and The HIV Mother-to-child Transmission Unit at Coronation Hospital (now Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital). BPsych students are also required to complete a thesis. My thesis title was “The impact of an HIV positive child on their caretaker".
Following this course I completed a further 720 hour internship at the Institute for Child and Adult Guidance (now PsyCad) where I learnt to use standardised Psychometric Measures. With a focus on Educational Assessments, I qualified as a Psychometrist. I thoroughly enjoyed and still implement my training that I obtained in the MBTI-Meyers Briggs Type personality assessment. I find this a versatile and fascinating way of understanding personalities, how they interact with each other and the world, and how they each experience stress. Soon, I began my career working independently as a school counsellor when I became an Integrated Learning Therapy (ILT) Practitioner. ILT provides a holistic, eco-systemic, neurodevelopmental evaluation of the systems supporting learning (sensory integration and reflexes) then provides planning of an individualised activity programme in response.
For four years following this I worked at a School for Neurodivergent students between the ages of 14 and 19 who had average or higher cognitive ability and one or more learning difficulties. Some students had diagnoses of Grand-mal or Petit-mal Epilepsy, Dyslexia, ADHD, high functioning Asperger Syndrome and high functioning Cerebral Palsy. I assisted the Educational Psychologist with all aspects of care for the students and staff at the school. The students’ cognitive and learning abilities needed to be assessed so that we could apply to the department of education to get special concessions approved per learner for their tests and exams. The report would recommend test and exam support for the student such as the need for extra time (usually 15 minutes per hour), a reader (reading the exam questions to the student), a scribe (writing the student’s answers verbatim and without influence), or full amanuensis (both reader and scribe).
More recently I have been providing individual and group counselling online for adults in South Africa. I was a member of the PsySSA Health Psychology Special Interest Group. I provided services to Healthcare Providers through the Healthcare Workers Care Network, and was a Bereavement Facilitator with Mama-Nurture who advocate for and facilitate pregnancy loss bereavement. I have been a speaker to public groups and presented on topics such as "Pregnancy Loss and Grief" as well as on "Setting Boundaries."
I now practice from my new home in the UK, where I am insured, ICO registered, enhanced DBS checked and registered on the Accredited Register through the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and also hold Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society (BPS). I love attending workshops and reading. I keep up to date by attending Continual Professional Development courses on Grief, Pregnancy Loss and DBT training as well as the latest on Trauma Treatment Certification.
© Corinne Crawford
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