Amanda Williamson Reg MBACP (Accred)

My training

I trained for an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling at the Iron Mill Institute in Exeter where I learned a variety of counselling approaches. The approaches to which I am most drawn, and which closely match the way I work in the therapy room, are the person-centred and existential approaches to counselling.

Person-centred counselling

The person-centred approach values trusting the client's therapeutic process and ensuring that the quality of the relationship between the client and therapist is authentic in order to help the client reach their own truths. The term "person-centred" is often misused and people can be confused and think of the person-centred way as being a little vague. This is unfortunate as, some of my previous clients will attest, it can be a most powerful way of bringing a greater awareness of one's processes. The key to the success in this type of therapy is the building of trust between client and counsellor.
I have written more about the person-centred approach on my personal website here.

Existential counselling

The existential approach is about considering the difficulties we as human beings face simply by being alive. It covers underlying anxieties around our fears of dying, concerns around life's meaning, fear of our responsibility of choice and the fundamental loneliness that some of us feel. There are no easy answers here but exploring these factors can help clients feel less alone and often gives a sense of relief.  More detail about the existential approach can be found here. 

REBT

For specific, short term work I sometimes use REBT - Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy - which predates Aaron Beck's Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by a decade. It is still very popular in the States but in the UK we seems to have got caught up in the research of the efficacy of CBT, perhaps at the expense of other equally valid and valuable approaches. REBT is similar to CBT but has more depth and looks at the whole person. I value the philosophy behind the approach. I wrote a short piece on the comparison of the REBT vs CBT here.

Creative therapies

Occasionally I use creative interventions, when clients may be stuck in their process, and require something different to talking therapy to access their emotions. This can be sandtray work, visualisations, drawing or writing to help an individual in their process. This is all done with discussion and agreement beforehand.

My experience

I worked in an agency setting for over 2 years, in a primary school, for an addictions unit and in private practice now since October 2011. I love the work I do; it is a privilege to share people's journeys and I appreciate the continued professional development that is required of counsellors in order to deliver the best service to clients.

BACP membership

My commitment to my clients is to provide a professional service that is in line with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists' Ethical Framework. I believe that if my clients are not happy with any aspect of my work that they should be protected by my being a voluntary member of this regulatory organisation.

Please, whoever you choose to have counselling with, ensure that they, or the organisation, are members of the BACP . Without membership of a reputable, professional body clients have no recourse should they feel they are being treated unethically. At the moment, there is nothing to stop people practising as counsellors without this protection for their clients.