Sophie Graves
Member Status: Accredited
Member No: NCS20-02053
Location: Lyme Regis
I work intuitively as an Integrative counsellor, providing a kind, compassionate safe space for you to be truly heard, to express yourself without any barriers or judgement, to bring the real you, the one we hide behind a veneer of “I am fine”
Getting started with counselling
Call for an informal chat and set up an initial free 20 minute consultation to see if I am right for you. For me it is about you being comfortable to work with me & being the right fit. We can do this by phone/online. Here we discuss what you want to get out of counselling, see if we click & if you want to go ahead we can set up your first counselling session to suit
My Background
As a complementary therapist for over 30 years, I work with different people facing challenges in their lives. Emotions have a profound effect on physical bodies so working with this mind body connection as a counsellor means I am intuitively aware of the body’s reaction to spoken & unspoken, working holistically, looking at mind, body & soul.
My inspiration
Counselling is Life Supervision, something we all need at different times of our lives to work through the sticky bits. A counsellor is a guide, enabling you to find your own way home. To feel truly heard is a rare & extraordinary thing happening rarely in day to day life. As a counsellor it is about stepping aside from my own experiences & judgements allowing another’s words & feelings to be shared in their entirety as if experiencing alongside them. My journey to becoming a counsellor has been full of pockets of counselling, supporting me at times I really needed to be heard, allowing me to understand the importance of having someone on your side, having your back & allowing you to refocus & find a way back to you.
How we can work together
We can become overwhelmed and caught up with negative thought patterns, here I would look at using mindfulness & cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Bodies are very good at processing our thoughts/emotions without us realising & can cause physical issues, anxiety and depression as well as just not feeling right. Here we use Gestalt & body process, working with our feelings in our bodies. Spirit is about nurturing who you truly are- aspirations, existential, as when out of balance with our emotions & overwhelmed, we cannot clearly see a way forward, so here I use a philosophical approach -including transpersonal, mindfulness, Gestalt, visualisations & affirmations. Our emotions overwhelm us & we can get lost & anxious. Emotions are about the Gestalt approach & working in the here & now. Relationships can rule our lives & we maybe denying who we truly are & trying to be who we think we should be, trying to please everyone. Here we would discover the person centred approach & transactional analysis, seeing how we relate to others in our life.
I feel integrative counselling is about being human, our hopes & dreams, our sense of self, who we are in the world & how we react to life.
