“I am grateful to have found Victoria, her intuition, kindness and skills supported me through a very difficult time living with chronic illness. I now have a sense of trust in myself that has given me back my purpose."
"Victoria has unflinchingly visited some dark places with me, her calm and steadiness never wavered and I really felt like she walked with me through deep grief after my husband died. She acknowledged my pain and carried hope for me when I had none. "
“I’ve had lots of therapy, but this was different. Victoria really met me where I was each week - sometimes our sessions were lighter, sometimes much heavier and I learned to feel that I could really truly be myself with Victoria. She was also really unshockable!”
Counselling - what to expect
​​​
​​​
Counselling is for anyone and everyone. You might have a specific thing you want to talk about – pain from your past or worries about the future. Or you might have a general sense that something is stuck, that this isn’t quite the life you’d expected.
​​​
Counselling offers the opportunity for us to develop a creative partnership , where we can work together to explore both what is troubling you and your potential in life and to support you to find a sense of freedom to be your true self.
​​​
Some of the areas that you may wish to explore, among others:
​
Depression, stress and anxiety - feeling low, overwhelmed or fearful can be all-consuming. We can work together to unpick and understand your unique experiences and to support your nervous system to find equilibrium.
​​​
Emotional processing often when we feel stuck in some way, we are longing to express past or current feelings and experiences, such as loss, betrayal and conflict. I can help you to do this through words, visualisation and movement. I will offer deep empathy and compassion as you work through what troubles you.
​​​
Relationships You may be feeling disconnected, under-valued or alone. Working on boundaries and self-advocacy can help you deepen relationship to yourself and others. I offer a compassionate and genuine therapeutic relationship as a place to explore the other relationships in your life.
​​​​
Coping strategies I will respect the coping strategies that have got you to this place in life. Together we can examine these strategies, consider why and how they developed earlier in your life and explore if you would like to adapt them to better meet your current and future needs.
​​​​
Self expression finding what you truly love about yourself and trusting that you are safe enough to express it can be a fulfilling journey. Identifying and strengthening what supports you is empowering.
​​​​​
We will work with whatever you bring to each session. You are the expert on yourself and it is my job to enable you to make changes.
​​​​
​​​​
​​​​​
​​​
​​
​​​​
About Me
​​
About me:
I am a qualified and experienced therapeutic counsellor, based in Gloucestershire GL6, offering online and in-person sessions both indoors and in nature.
​​
For over ten years, I have specialised in helping clients with a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, disconnection and loneliness, relationships, low self-esteem, loss, and addictions. I have worked with many clients on issues of identity, life purpose and parenting, and on creating a healthy and fulfilling life-work balance.
​​​
My qualifications and experience:
I am a registered member of BACP, the professional association for members of the counselling professions in the UK. I adhere to the professional ethics and standards of BACP, including ongoing professional development and supervision to ensure my practice is ethical and effective.
​​​
I hold a Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling and a Foundation Certificate in Psychotherapy and Counselling from the Bath Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy, which is accredited by BACP. You can view my listing on the BCPC website here.
​​​​​
I continue to learn and develop my skills and have undertaken training in diverse areas including Mindfulness for Therapists, Walk and Talk Therapy in the Outdoors, Somatic Therapy and neurodiversity-affirming practice .
​​​​
As well as working with clients in my private practice, I have worked with clients with active drug and alcohol addictions and those in recovery at the Swan Project in Bristol and also with students in a university student counselling service.
​
Prior to training as a therapist, I had a fifteen year career in international development - focusing on building capacity for self-advocacy with marginalised communities, mentoring and training individuals and organisations and working to bring together communities with diverse agendas to campaign for increased transparency and accountability.
​​​​
​​​
​​​
​​
​​
​​
​​
"In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety"
Abraham Maslow
FAQs
What will happen in the first session?
Our first session will be a chance for us to get to know each other a bit and to decide if we will work together. Choosing the right counsellor for you is really important, so this first session is an opportunity for you to gather more information to inform your decision. It will last 50 minutes and will usually be online using Zoom.
I know that beginning this journey can feel daunting. I will welcome you and help you to feel comfortable. You don’t need to be anything but yourself, there is no need to prepare in anyway, it is my job to help you tell your story in your own way.
We will explore what has brought you to counselling and any goals you may have for feeling better. I will ask questions that will help me to get a better understanding of what support you need. These questions might include your current and past relationships, your childhood, your feelings or thoughts, past and present life experiences, situations you find difficult and enjoyable, your relationship to yourself and where you find support and meaning, for example in particular relationships, places or activities and interests. You don’t need to talk about anything that feels too uncomfortable, we can work towards these things together.
​
There will be plenty of time for you to also ask questions. I will then invite you to take a few days to let the experience of the session settle and to decide if you would like to proceed with working together.
​
If, for any reason, I feel that my skills do not best match your needs, I will direct you towards finding help with another counsellor.
​
If we decide to work together, I will share my agreement document with you which sets out how I work, you can review the document here
​
What happens in weekly sessions?
Our weekly sessions are space to be with whatever you wish - this might be talking about it or inwardly experiencing your feelings. Sessions move at your pace.
​
I will listen deeply to you, ask questions to explore and understand your experience. I will offer insight and gentle challenge. We will work together to find ways to make connections, bring about change and provide you with lifelong tools to bring a sense of ease and peace and promote ongoing emotional growth.
If you choose to work with me in person outdoors, we will also use the natural environment around us for inspiration and building mindfulness practices. If you wish, I will offer the opportunity to explore how gentle movement can help you to move through stuck feelings and experience yourself more fully. We may also explore other tools such as mindfulness practices.
We will meet at the same time each week. Online sessions last 50 minutes and are conducted using Zoom. You can base yourself wherever works for you - anywhere that feels comfortable and safe and that you can talk freely without being overheard.
Outdoor sessions last 60 minutes and we will usually meet in the same place each time, although there is always scope for exploring working in different locations by prior agreement.
If we meet in my practice room at the Nailsworth Natural Health Clinic, sessions last 50 minutes.
How many sessions will I need?
The number of sessions depends on the reason you have come to counselling. As a general rule, for meaningful change, I recommend a minimum of eight sessions. I am happy to work with an agreed ending date in place - this often brings focus and momentum - or in an open-ended way which can create space to work at greater depth and bring about more significant change. There is really no right or wrong way, only the way that will best support you and we can discuss this during our first session.
​
How often do I need to come?
Counselling is most effective when you commit to weekly sessions. I have found through experience that the days you don’t want to come are often the sessions that will make the biggest difference. Our subconscious can have an uncanny way of trying to protect us from new territory.
In time, it can be useful to explore working less frequently, such as fortnightly, for example as our work is coming to an end.
Ending therapy
Ending therapy is an important part of the process, providing opportunity to review the work you’ve done, celebrate your growth and identify areas for future attention. Because of this I ask you to commit to at least one pre-planned ending session so we can honour the end of this part of your journey. It is of course your choice when to end therapy. I will help you to identify ways to support your ongoing process.
What type of therapy do you offer?
I am an integrative counsellor, meaning that I use techniques and tools from different approaches and weave them together to respond to your needs in each moment. I approach you as a whole person and consider your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual needs.
Here is a summary of the main ways I work:
​
I trained originally in a person-centred approach, which aligns with my belief that we all have the capacity for growth and change. This kind of therapy is rooted in the idea that you are the expert in you and that therapy is working towards empowering you to feel more yourself.
​
I have also trained in psychodynamic counselling, this supports exploration of how our unconscious thoughts and past experiences shape our current feelings, behaviours and relationships. I love how this approach can provide self-awareness and empower us to change our internal narratives and our ways of being in the world.
I am trained to use mindfulness based approaches to support my therapeutic work.
Somatic trauma healing works with our bodies and nervous systems to help release stored pain. This can include gentle movement, increasing bodily awareness, and visualisation and can be a useful approach to complement the talking of more traditional counselling.
​
Nature therapy connects us to nature and to a sense of something greater than ourselves and allows space for our nervous systems to settle. Walking during a counselling session can help to access thoughts and feelings in a fresh way.
​
I am neuro-diversity affirming, drawing on both lived experience and formal training. I strive to offer a safe and validating space, where we can both be curious about how you experience the world - celebrate strengths, respect differences and co-create real support for you. I challenge neuro-normativity - the assumption that there is a single ‘correct’ way to think, feel and behave - in all its forms.
I love learning. The way our minds and bodies work is endlessly fascinating to me. Particular areas of interest at the moment are:
-
learning about our nervous systems and ways to soothe and build flexibility and resilience within ourselves,
-
movement and stillness as ways to work with suffering and grief,
-
evolutionary psychology - understanding how and why our nervous systems evolved the way they did and working with this to create optimal conditions for wellbeing, such as sunlight, nature, social interactions, nutrition
-
nutrition to support emotional wellbeing
​
Do you have availability?
I currently have:
-
Availability for working outdoors in nature.
-
One session available for online work on Tuesday evenings.
-
From the start of March, I have availability in Nailsworth on Tuesday mornings.
If these times don’t align with your availability, please do make contact and we can explore options.
How much does it cost?
£55 per session, payable monthly. I offer a free 15 minute phone call to explore working together. Please make contact here to arrange.
PDA parenting support
Are you feeling exhausted? Alone? Confused in your parenting journey?
​
I know what that feels like. PDA up-ends most of our parenting expectations and chips away at our identity and self-confidence. It can be incredibly overwhelming and isolating.
I also know the limited (often non-existent) support there is for PDA children and their families. One way of working with this reality is to support the parents and carers of these children. I do this through a combination of two approaches:
Therapeutic counselling PDA parenting requires the ability to co-regulate with your child and this requires a steady nervous system - much more than most of us can maintain without support. I offer therapeutic counselling including nervous system support, somatic experiencing and mindfulness techniques, creating a safe space for you to process your day-to-day struggles, the deeper trauma, to adjust expectations, to regulate your nervous system and, ultimately, to find ways to grow emotionally. I offer genuine, deep and unconditional human connection. I will meet you with curiosity and compassion.
Tools and techniques I also know that with a PDA kid or kids, time and energy are in short supply. I bring skills in prioritising where to put your energy to bring about change that you can see and feel. This can include, increasing your understanding of PDA - viewing it predominantly as a nervous system disability- , looking at how to monitor your child’s nervous system activation and decision making that builds on this reality, and, most importantly, accommodations and tools to increase nervous system regulation for the whole family.
My personal experience of PDA has been a roller-coaster. And I have also experienced it to be a catalyst for my growth as a parent, but also as a human being. I am humbled by what I witness with the parents I work with, seeing such perseverance, integrity and, above all, love - it fills my heart.
​
I am guided by you and your needs, I take you as you are each week. There is enough in life that expects us to be a certain way, my therapy room is not one of those places!
​
Imagine how life could feel different…. More peaceful, with space for healing and a sense of clarity and purpose. I look forward to getting to know you and support you.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Privacy
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU regulation which aims to improve privacy and give people greater control over their personal information and how it is used.
Below, I explain how I will handle and use the personal data I hold, whether on this website or if you work with me as a client.
​
Client privacy
Information I hold
Personal data is information that can identify you. I collect the following:
-
Biographical information – your name, address, date of birth
-
Your contact details – postal address, email address and phone number
-
Emergency contact and GP details
-
A brief overview of what brings you to counselling and what you hope to get from this work
-
Subsequently I keep brief, anonymised session notes.
​
Processing your personal data
This means collecting, storing, using, sharing and deleting your personal information. I only collect information that is essential for clinical or legal reasons.
Requesting to see your data
You are able to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you, free of charge. You would need to ask for this information in writing and I aim to provide it in digital form, within 28 days of receiving your request.
What do I do with your data?
The information you give me when we contract to work together is stored securely as a password protected digital file, email or paper record kept in a locked cabinet.
Your name, email address and phone number are stored securely on my work phone and desktop computer. This is removed 1 month after our work together has come to an end.I will use your phone number, email or home address to contact you regarding appointments and to reply to you if you make contact with me.
​
Anonymised session notes are stored on secure, password protected cloud storage or in a locked cabinet. I keep session notes for 7 years, in order to be able to answer a complaint if one were raised.
I will never share your data with a third party unless I have your permission; if I am concerned about your safety or the safety of someone else; or if obliged to by a court of law.
​
During the course of our work, if I become suddenly ill and unable to contact you, I would share your name and phone number with my professional executor who would contact you, in line with good practice in the profession.
​
Data breaches
I will inform you within 72 hours if there has been any breach of your data.
​
Website privacy
​​
The data controller for this website is Victoria Room.
The way I gather and use personal information regarding visitors to this site is outlined below.I use Wix analytics to analyse traffic to the site, and this data is anonymised.
More info on Wix’s privacy policy here.
Cookies
I use a minimal set of cookies on this site, so that I can monitor visits to the site (anonymised data), and to display google maps.
Information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at www.AboutCookies.org. Please note that by deleting cookies or disabling future cookies you may not be able to access certain areas or features of my site
This is a paragraph area where you can add your own text. Just click “Edit Text” or double click here to add your own content and make changes to the font. It's a great place to tell a story about your business and let users know more about you.
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you"
Maya Angelou
Get in touch
I'd love to hear from you. Make contact and we can explore working together. I will respond within 48 hours
​