Carmel Shealy

I describe myself as an Integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist which means that I am able to draw on a number of therapeutic practices to suit the needs of my clients. Essentially, this means that we will work together to explore and make sense of how we relate to ourselves and others in and around our daily lives, which becomes an integral part of the therapeutic process. I work with people who usually are in distress or something in their current life has become too difficult to deal with on their own. Sometimes this can happen if there is ongoing or unresolved trauma or they are trying to cope with complex grief following a significant loss in their lives. Within a confidential and non-judgemental therapeutic space, we often find that we can talk about things that may have been too difficult or uncomfortable to talk to anyone about before. Often, we are uncertain about why we are feeling the way we are feeling. Each of us has our own unique story to tell and the therapeutic space can be a useful place to do this, as it provides the right conditions for a shared exploration to take place. When we get the opportunity to tell our story, we can often get a much clearer sense of our own thoughts and feelings and our position in the world and how we relate to others, which in itself is helpful as it can bring our way of being into our awareness and allow for something else to come into view or another position to emerge if we choose. I am particularly passionate about supporting women who are perimenopausal or in menopause. Having worked for many years in both the private and public sector at a senior level, I have experience in supporting women navigating this challenging time in their lives whilst holding down careers and maintaining a work life balance. As a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy BACP I practice in accordance with their professional Code of Ethics.