I am a Humanistic counsellor, qualified to offer a range of therapeutic approaches, including Person-Centred, TA, Gestalt and Adlerian. I value your autonomy. I will listen carefully and offer gentle challenge if needed, supporting you as you discover your own conclusions.
I bring warmth, energy, sensitivity and frankness to my client relationships. I won’t give you advice or tell you what to do as I believe you are the expert on yourself and I am there to facilitate, working through what might be difficult and distressing issues.
I am a registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists). I commit and maintain to the BACP’s Ethical Principles of Code of Professional Conduct. My work is fully insured and professionally supervised in accordance with BACP guidelines.
I provide counselling for a wide variety of life experiences and concerns, offering both short-term issue focused, as well as longer term open-ended counselling, to young people and adults. I work face to face, online and via telephone with clients in the UK and overseas.
I have experience in executive coaching and career counselling and 30 years’ corporate experience, gained from working for a wide range of companies, including an HR consultancy, a business school, a test and assessment publisher and a large retailer.
I work voluntarily for a counselling service in the charity sector and have always had an active interest in working voluntarily on governing bodies, with students, schools and colleges.
Sometimes just to feel heard can bring feelings of relief and clarity. Counselling is a shared undertaking, making sense of your experience, working together to gain a deeper understanding of yourself as we explore and broaden perspectives and choices
You may decide on a course of shorter term counselling sessions, designed to focus and bring relief to a specific issue, or you might feel you would benefit from working together for longer, through exploratory longer-term therapy.
There may be parts of ourselves that we may not know or try to ignore. Often it is these parts that we most need to come to terms with if we want to grow and develop and see ourselves more completely.
The therapeutic relationship will enable you to explore how you experience yourself and others as a powerful tool for developing greater self-awareness. Whatever you bring will be treated respectfully and in confidence.
The more you put in to the therapeutic process the more you can take out and benefit from the investment in yourself. It takes courage to meet the parts we have hidden, to be open to working through our vulnerabilities and letting down some of our defences, as we gain a deeper understanding of where we are and where we want to be.
Counselling is a collaborative process and the relationship between us is a key part of the therapy, working with the whole of ourselves; mind, body and spirit. Counselling is different for every client and grows into something unique as the relationship develops. It is this relationship, based on trust which can provide the right conditions for change.
My fee for individual counselling is £50 per session. Each counselling session lasts 50 minutes and sessions usually take place once a week, or bi-weekly, at the same regular time. I offer counselling online only.
You can contact me at ruth@ruthmcnaughton.com or on 07542 847848, if you have any questions or would like to book an introductory appointment. This initial session is an opportunity for us to discuss what brings you to counselling, what you would like to get out of the sessions, and whether it feels right for us to work together.