Person-centred therapy

I understand therapy can feel really daunting and scary at times, the good news is that you are looking here to make a start . We are not designed to figure out life and all its complexities alone. We can see and experience a lot in our lives and that can have a significant impact on us. It can be exhausting but it doesn't have to be like that. You deserve happiness and emotional freedom and I can help you to achieve that. I am relational and supportive in my style and create a bespoke therapy suited for the individual/couple using several evidence-based interventions to help improve your psychological and emotional well-being.
The significance of being heard and valued by respecting your story will help you gain insight into yourself. Explore how your life's context has shaped how this has influenced your perception of yourself and how you relate to the world and others. It is important to balance support alongside the challenge to allow space for growth and change.
I see you as a person and I hear the journey you have travelled. I invite you to connect to the part of you that knows you deserve the right to happiness and emotional freedom. In our lives, we see and experience many things and some of them can be deeply impactful and traumatic. Asking for support is your first step in taking back control of your life.

I’m an Integrative Humanistic Counsellor & Psychotherapist, and work with young people (13+) and adults. I’m bilingual and see clients in both English and Spanish. I love the process of transformation that can happen during talking therapies, both as a client and as a practitioner. Having the time and space to be open and honest about what’s happening for us without worrying about being judged can be key in learning to truly understand, love and accept ourselves. Personally, being in therapy has been cathartic, productive and healing in my own life, and I feel privileged providing that experience for others

Hi, I'm Claire and I'm a qualified person-centred counsellor offering online and phone counselling to adults.

Are you feeling anxious or struggling?

-This could be through a bereavement, or difficulties in a relationship
-Perhaps health issues such as chronic illness, disability or menopause have affected how you are feeling
-Maybe work is causing you stress, or you have been made redundant

Do you feel misunderstood or not heard?

-Maybe you don’t have somewhere you feel supported to be yourself and to speak freely
-Perhaps you feel like you don't have anyone to talk to who understands
-You may need a place to be heard and to explore your feelings

How can I help?

-I offer a warm, non-judgmental, and empathic space where you can feel safe to explore your feelings and work through your experiences
-This can help develop your self-awareness and confidence
-I can support you in finding acceptance of what has happened in your life, or in making changes

Are you feeling that you’re not living life to the full?
Does your head feel full of worries and constant thoughts that lead to you to not feeling good enough?
Do find you lack confidence in yourself and feel worthless?
Are you fed up with trying to please other people rather than yourself?
Are you feeling that you’ll never find a successful relationship.
Do you find yourself in repeating patterns of behaviour that stop you moving forward and having the life you want.?
Things you just can’t seem to change on your own? Does this leave you feel isolated and alone?
All these struggles can result in a life where anxiety and depression can take over and day to day life can feel too hard. Often resulting in coping mechanisms that just make things harder, or you might find you’re struggling to manage each day.
If you identify with any of these situations, then therapy can be something that can really help.
This is where I can help, in therapy I can work with you to find ways to overcome the issues that prevent you from living a life, the life you want and deserve. Talking therapy allows you to work through things at a comfortable pace and learn new skills to manage and overcome problems.
Clients tell me that having therapy has helped them to make so many positive changes in their lives, from improving their relationships with themselves and others, overcoming destructive behaviours, such as using drugs and alcohol to numb painful feelings and discovering a newfound confidence to really live life the way they want.
About Me
So far in my journey as a therapist I have amassed over 6 thousand hours of working with clients both at the Mental health charity Mind, a private drug and alcohol rehab and my own busy private practice, this means I have a wealth of experience and knowledge in working with both individuals and couples, helping them to overcome many different issues and discovering a new path forward. My own life experiences from being a military child who went to boarding school, a mother, experiencing difficult relationships, having many different jobs until I found my passion of being a therapist, supporting a family member with addiction and mental health struggles, also allows me to bring my own life experiences and knowledge.
Couples
Are you looking for help with your relationship? Are you finding that you’re not feeling heard or understood by your partner?
I work with couples and people who are looking for help with their relationships. Helping people to communicate their needs and desires in an effective way to enable them to have the relationship that they truly want.
When we fail to communicate effectively in our relationships it results in ruptures, conflict, and unhappiness.
Relationships can be affected by so many factors, infidelities, addiction, bereavement, children, work stresses and many more daily events that cause friction between two people.
Bringing these issues to therapy allows couples to navigate their problems and learn new ways to resolve the conflict, reignite intimacy and become close again.

My name is Tony Matthews, and I am the lead therapist/supervisor and Director of Toad Counselling Ltd.

At Toad Counselling we have two fully qualified therapists who work with children and young people, adults, couples/relationships and family issues. We also have a small team of students who can deal with many different issues around mental health, anxiety, depression, family problems, bereavements, bullying or even career/life changes, and much more.

We also offer Clinical Supervision

For a long time I believed in keeping emotions and feelings to myself because that's what I was taught to do, and if you cried, you were not considered a man. I have learned to let go and share the way I feel, and yes, I cry too, and without feeling ashamed.