Deborah Blyth
Psychotherapist
MA, BA (Hons), BACP (Accred), and UKRCP registered, PGDip Counselling, Dip. Clinical Supervision, IPT Reg (2012), VACTS accred (Addictions 1995).
Why me?
It can be extremely hard to approach a professional for psychological support, and it is absolutely my intention to be really approachable and non judgemental. I am a very experienced psychotherapist and counsellor, both within the NHS (almost 20 years) and privately, and I have worked with many individuals, of very different backgrounds, each presenting with their own unique challenges and distress.I tend to encourage clients to explore their current situation and how it developed, to express how they feel, and to develop ideas about how to improve things. I use a number of different ‘models’ of therapy, hopefully tailoring a style to suit the client and their problems. I will always help the individual develop clarity about what it is they want from therapy … even if someone says “I just don’t want to feel like this anymore”.
I usually start with a telephone call to see if we would be likely to suit each other and to discuss availability. We would arrange a first session during which confidentiality is explained, relevant details are described, and a collaborative discussion about the therapy, and how to structure it. I can work short-term or longer term, with either a specific or generalised goal, and I can see people either weekly of fortnightly (to begin with). I aspire to be kind, warm, informative, non-judgemental, open and genuine, with an intense desire to provide a safe environment and a collaborative style, that enables the individual (as much as possible) to find ways of being free of the psychological distress that brought them to therapy.
I work extremely professionally, following all protocols as laid down by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists, which also means I undertake monthly supervision and regularly update my training and review relevant research.
I am also a trained and experienced clinical supervisor, which means I support other psychotherapists in their work.
My Story...
There was a time where...
"I didn't want to feel like this anymore".
Many years ago, in my early twenties, I suffered from fairly significant psychological distress, and I thought that emigrating to Australia would get rid of it..well of course the problems went with me. I thought that getting degrees and practising and lecturing in design, would make the distress stop. Although I loved the work, the country, and the few friends I had, I continued going “downhill”. However, once I undertook very professional and helpful psychological therapy, then I was able to reduce the misery, which enabled me to stop running….and my journey and vocation of psychotherapy began. After 12 years in Australia, I came back to the UK and retrained as a therapist.
I am an integrative therapist (which means I employ a number of models), and I have training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Psychodynamic Therapy, Interpersonal therapy, Compassionate Focussed Therapy, and Mindfulness CBT,
I began practising 25 years ago and I haven’t looked back. It is my vocation, as well as a career. I retired from the NHS in April 2020 after almost 20 years, and I have also been working privately since 2004. Therefore, I have had extensive experience as well as the privilege of being able to work with a substantial number of very courageous people; each presenting with their own unique set of issues and problems. I still have therapy if I need it - I am part of the human condition too, and part of the suffering that we can all find ourselves in, at certain times of our lives.
