Polly Hockaday MBACP (Accred) Dip. Couns.
My way of working is Person-Centred. This means that I am not the expert in your world; I believe that you are, and we will explore your world together. I will be working alongside you professionally with respect, empathy and honesty. I hope to help you to understand yourself more deeply, to help you make sense of your feelings and thoughts, and the impact those feelings and thoughts might be having on you. I will not be telling you what to do nor giving you advice.
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I hope that our work together may enable you to see possibilities and choices for change, may build your inner resources and your resilience, and improve your emotional well-being.
Person-centred work is based on the principles of Carl Rogers's life and work:
“People only seriously consider change when they feel accepted for exactly who they are”
- Carl Rogers.
I understand the courage it takes to make the initial contact with a counsellor. We can arrange a phone call for you to discuss your individual needs.
Person-centred work is based on the principles of Carl Rogers's life and work:
“People only seriously consider change when they feel accepted for exactly who they are”
- Carl Rogers.
I understand the courage it takes to make the initial contact with a counsellor. We can arrange a phone call for you to discuss your individual needs.
At our first meeting, we will have clear discussions to understand what you want from the counselling sessions. I offer both short-term and long-term counselling. I work with each client individually by listening very carefully to what brings you to counselling and what is troubling you. Most importantly, I will ask and want to understand what you hope to get from counselling. We will decide if your needs will be best met by me or if another service would be more appropriate.
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I hope that together we will build a trusting therapeutic relationship - to enable us to explore fully and openly what has brought you to counselling and bring about constructive change for you.
As an experienced ethical counsellor, I am committed to my continuing professional development in order to improve my professional practice. I started as a Cruse Bereavement volunteer in 2008, working closely with the impact of bereavement and loss, up until 2013. I qualified as a Person-Centred Therapist in 2010. In 2013, I completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in order to have a clear understanding of how CBT can also be useful when working with emotional well-being. From 2010 onwards I worked as an NHS counsellor in a number of GP practices. In 2020, I completed a BACP OU Working Online course.
As an experienced ethical counsellor, I am committed to my continuing professional development in order to improve my professional practice. I started as a Cruse Bereavement volunteer in 2008, working closely with the impact of bereavement and loss, up until 2013. I qualified as a Person-Centred Therapist in 2010. In 2013, I completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in order to have a clear understanding of how CBT can also be useful when working with emotional well-being. From 2010 onwards I worked as an NHS counsellor in a number of GP practices. In 2020, I completed a BACP OU Working Online course.
I have experience of working with many issues some of which are: depression, anxiety, bereavement, loss, illness, stress, bullying, relationship difficulties, infertility, pregnancy and birth, carer support, redundancy, miscarriage, disability, suicide.
I have completed many continuing professional development days, including in: attachment, aspects of bereavement, compassion focussed therapy, understanding self-harm, and mindfulness. I continually update my knowledge of local support services. |
I practise online, and out of rooms in Oxford, and I currently work only in private practice.