Counselling and Psychotherapy in Plymouth, Devon

Everyone struggles at times; it’s a normal part of life.

But sometimes, it can feel like too much.

With my help, counselling can help you take back control.

Are you suffering from negative thoughts and emotions? Are you feeling lonely and isolated or avoiding situations? Do you suffer from poor mental health?

Anxiety, Depression, and other issues can have a debilitating effect on your life.

Are you unhappy with your relationship or career? Are you going through a breakup, or have you lost a loved one? Do you feel stuck and want a change?

You're not alone in this.

Sometimes, talking to family and friends isn’t enough. Sometimes, they are the problem.

Whatever the issue, turning to therapy for the extra support a therapist like myself can offer will help you view your problems from a new perspective. These kinds of issues can all be treated by an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist.

If you're looking for counselling in Plymouth, I've helped people from all walks of life, dealing with many different issues.

Based in Mutley, Plymouth, I work in an informal and private room where you'll have a confidential, safe, and welcoming space to talk.

If you're unsure about anything or want to chat, I offer a free 15 minute consultation online or over the phone before we start.

I recognise that it can be daunting and often scary to reach out and ask for help and support.

My priority is to make your counselling experience as worry-free and straightforward as possible, from our initial chat to our first face-to-face session.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

I also provide CBT Therapy in Plymouth along with other talking therapies. These can be invaluable in developing coping skills and strategies, helping you to change and overcome distorted thinking patterns, and gain control of your behaviour and thinking, no matter how desperate or difficult you feel.

EMDR Therapy

Are you looking for an EMDR therapist in Plymouth? I provide EMDR therapy from my room in Mutley.

Counselling Supervision

With an advanced diploma in Clinical Supervision and many years of experience, I also offer Counselling Supervision in Plymouth if you're looking for a supervisor.

Click to read more of my reviews on Google or my Testimonials page.

Counselling doesn't mean me telling you what to do. My role is to help you better understand yourself and work towards solutions together. You're the expert on yourself; counselling isn't "done to you" but is about you and I working together.

For counselling to be effective, it requires commitment and effort from both of us. Be patient with yourself. The result is personal growth and self-awareness, leading to a more satisfying and meaningful life.

Try to go into counselling with realistic expectations. It's not a quick-fix solution; it's a process. It also means making sometimes difficult changes in your behaviour or thinking patterns.

Try to be honest and open with me, not only about the issues you're bringing up and how you feel, but also about whether the sessions are working for you.

Spend time between sessions reflecting on what we've discussed. Doing this daily will help you feel more comfortable talking about your feelings. Spend some time thinking about how to describe your feelings. Doing this can help you focus on particular issues during the session.

It's important to be yourself and use language that feels comfortable for you. This includes swearing if that helps you express how you're feeling and get your point across.

For many people, crying and getting upset are natural and frequent parts of the counselling process. Please try not to worry or feel embarrassed that this may happen; you will be given the time and space you need until you feel ready to continue.

Full view of therapy room of Anna Batey Counselling

I work with an integrative approach, which combines Person-Centred Therapy with CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Gestalt Therapy, and Mindfulness techniques.

This means I can draw on different approaches to offer you counselling that best suits you and your needs as a unique individual.

Gestalt therapy is an approach to counselling that helps you focus on the present and understand what is happening in your life.

Instead of what you may perceive to be happening based on past experience.

With Gestalt Therapy, instead of simply talking about past situations, you're encouraged to experience them. This can involve focusing on the event and bringing past feelings to the here and now, so they can be fully explored and made sense of.

Through the gestalt process, you learn to become more aware of how your negative thought patterns and behaviours block accurate self-awareness and make you unhappy.

The word "gestalt" means whole. Psychotherapist Fritz Perls developed gestalt therapy on the principle that humans are best viewed as a whole entity consisting of body, mind, and soul and are best understood when viewed through your own eyes.

Not by looking back into the past, but by bringing the past into the present.

Mindfulness therapy is based on the ancient practice of mindfulness and is a very popular approach that can be helpful if you're stressed, anxious, or suffering from mood-related issues.

Mindfulness Therapy can also be very helpful in helping you focus your mind on the immediate present. This process, with practice, allows you to recognise the mind's wanderings as thoughts, not reality.

For example, you may start thinking: “What if I can’t cope?”, “That person doesn’t like me”, “I’m no good at that”, etc. These thoughts will lead to negative feelings such as anger, sadness, guilt, anxiety, or regret.

But if you let these feelings pass through your mind freely, you can learn to accept them as only day-to-day thoughts and nothing more. You can then free yourself from the negative emotions that accompany them and learn to feel more peaceful and calm every day.

Indeed, research suggests that patterns of the mind actually change with the practice of mindfulness.

Person-Centred Counselling is based on the belief that everyone tries to fulfil their own potential and has the capacity to do so.

It emphasises the quality of the relationship between you and the counsellor, which is considered the most important thing to help you.

Person-Centred Counselling does not involve being given advice or being told what to do. My role is to help you to learn to trust yourself and realise your potential, talk about the things that are holding you back and determine the right way forward for yourself.

Counsellors offer you an understanding approach that is honest, friendly, and non-judgmental.

You decide the main focus of the counselling and discuss what might help. My role helps the process by asking questions and helping you clarify what you think and how you feel.

How many counselling sessions will I need?

It varies from person to person and will depend upon the issues we're discussing. It can often be helpful for us to meet weekly, in the beginning, to enable change to happen quickly, moving to less frequently as the work progresses.

I offer short- and long-term counselling and am always led by my client's needs, with regular reviews to ensure that you're getting what you need from our sessions.

How much does Counselling cost?

I charge a fixed fee of £85 per hour for all therapies. This enables us to work with whatever intervention is most appropriate in the moment, without having to stop mid-session and discuss fees.

In my experience working with a combination of different approaches produces the best results as it enables you to utilise the full capacity of your mind by exploring emotions and developing solutions that you may not have considered before.