A little more about me and the counselling available

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Have you ever had that moment in life where you are just no longer sure where you are going or what the future holds for you? In 2009, I reached that point!

Hi, my name is Janey, I am a qualified, registered and insured counsellor, and like you, I am more than just my professional job title. I am also a mother, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a carer and a friend to many.  

After my son was born with physical and learning disabilities, I needed to take some time away from employment and focus on giving my son the best possible start in life. I soon found myself parenting solo, and with no grandparents around to guide me, help out or support me, I found this a very challenging and isolating time.  I realised that spending hours commuting to London and undertaking a high-pressured stressful job was not going to fit in with my new role as a parent and carer and it would be impossible to do it all, I had to make a choice. After my son started in education, I decided that this was the ideal time to, at last, follow my passion. I had always been interested in counselling, psychology and human interactions. I found an introduction to counselling course and decided to attend out of interest and to fill a few hours whilst my son was at school. fast forward to 5 years later, and after extensive training I was a fully qualified and BACP registered counsellor working with and helping people who feel similar to how I did. 

I work with a number of different clients, from people living with cancer to people who are depressed or anxious. My specialist area is working with Autistic adults and parent/carers of children with special needs. I take my personal lived experience of caring for someone with special needs and autism to support my work with my parent carer clients. I also take my education and knowledge of autism and the different way this presents in adults to tailor the counselling and support autistic adults in order that they can access effective and practical counselling and therapy. 

As part of my qualification, I completed my supervised clinical training in three different counselling agencies:

• 'Helen Rollason', a renowned Cancer Charity providing counselling services to people at all stages of their cancer journeys and also supporting their families through these difficult and emotional times.
• 'Action for Family Carers' who support carers in all roles such as 'spouse caring for a partner', 'Parents caring for their children with special needs and disabilities children including adult children'.
• 'Skylark Church' who are an established church in Chelmsford also offering counselling to their parishioners and also local residents.

My experience, training and qualifications enables me to offer effective therapeutic counselling and psychotherapy services on an individual basis to both men and women of all ages. I have also completed additional training in Couples counselling and I am now excited to be able to offer this additional service. I can offer Face to Face counselling based in Chelmsford. 

I will tailor the counselling I offer to meet your needs as an individual. I work with clients in a psychotherapeutic way, using person-centred and humanistic therapies, drawing on other theories and models including transactional analysis, CBT and solution focussed therapies depending on your needs and your presenting issues. I will work with you and listen to find out what is happening for you NOW, and sometimes, if needed, we may revisit to the past to better understand what has bought you to this time and place. I will work with you to help you discover how you would like to feel and help you uncover ways to live the life you want to be living and feel the way you want to be feeling. To aid me with this, I also have a working knowledge and professional development certificates in Psychodynamic theories, dream analysis, grief counselling and the psychology of mental health and working psychologically with adult autism. I also have diplomas in Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, pathological demand avoidance (PDA).  For some people, different forms of creative and visual therapy are better suited and on occasions these may be introduced into your counselling session.

As for life experience, like many, I have experienced highs and lows. The highs are freedom, becoming a mother, travelling, marriage, a career with over 15 years' experience working in professional roles such as Bank Manager, Operations Manager and Risk Assessment, retraining and qualifying as a counsellor. The lows are growing up without a mother, traumatic loss and grief, suicide of a loved one, divorce, separation, health issues and receiving a devasting diagnosis for my child and all of the challenges of navigating 'the system'. 

I believe my life experience, the highs and the lows, my knowledge and my training all help me to be a better, more effective and empathetic counsellor.  Whether you're a man or woman, a couple, young or old, a full-time carer, a high-flying city executive or a person on the autistic spectrum, I hope to be able to draw on my skills to help you in the way you find supportive.

At the heart of my 30 years' work experience has been people development, working with and guiding people to reach their full potential and I hope by working together, I can do that for YOU.