Lisa Hill

Monday – Friday daytime, with some limited evening and weekend availability; please enquire.

Trust and support, I believe, are the fundamental aspects of the relationship between counsellor and client and I maintain my practice standards under the Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

Taking the step to seek counselling may feel daunting, however much you feel you need help with certain aspects of your life. Perhaps a traumatic event has occurred, or you are struggling with the loss of a relationship, or a bereavement, together with feelings of anxiety and depression arising from these. Or, maybe, you feel you know something about yourself, but you don’t really understand it or why you keep repeating the same patterns in your relationships. I believe that with my mindful attention and thought, offering a confidential, non-judgemental safe space, together we can explore what is happening presently to bring meaning, understanding and growth in yourself and your relationships to effect the changes you are seeking.

I am a fully qualified Psychodynamic Counsellor, trained under the British Psychoanalytic Council. My training was provided over 5 years via Gloucestershire Counselling Services where I qualified in 2023. I have been working with clients in a trainee and qualified capacity since 2021. Working with a service has allowed me to experience working with a variety of mental health issues and personal problems. I am also a writer, author and a member of Lapidus International, which advocates for writing for wellbeing. I therefore offer a creative approach to therapy using writing as a safe container and tool to access unconscious thoughts and feelings.

I work open-endedly with clients experiencing issues stemming from early childhood experiences to allow time and space for growth and development. I also work more briefly over a period from 6 weeks to 3 months where I use a solution focused therapeutic approach to enable to you work through and move forward from a current crisis. All therapy is offered in-person, on-line or via telephone.

My aim of therapy is for us to enter a collaborative process where you may find words to bring meaning to how you think and feel, allowing for understanding and, most hopefully, facilitating personal growth.

My foundational approach to therapy is psychotherapeutic, meaning we will explore together how present issues relate to past childhood experiences and family dynamics, shaping how you relate to others in your life today, but also how we relate with each other in the counselling room. In doing so, hopefully you will begin to develop a deeper awareness of your patterns of relating and beliefs, allowing you to understand their impact on you and your everyday life. This offers the opportunity for growth, choice and change so that you don’t remain with that feeling of ‘being stuck’, which may be why you are presently seeking therapy.

I use a trauma-informed approach allowing for an embodied method where we can pay close attention in the moment to feeling and sensations allowing us to work with associations, thoughts and dreams to deepen awareness. Sometimes we can feel scared or frightened of going to places in our own minds and I therefore also employ a creative approach with tools such as writing, prompt cards and wooden toys, allowing us to gently explore parts of you which you find difficult to connect with. Overtime this offers the opportunity for you to integrate aspects of yourself and become more authentic and connected in your relationship with yourself and others. 

My fields of interest include:

Preverbal childhood trauma which often presents as unconscious knowing or feelings which leave you confused about yourself, but you cannot understand.

Fear of abandonment (or a feeling/ fear of being left) which might mean you feel you are not being boundaried enough in your relationships, you stay in relationships even when you feel you want to leave, or you leave because you worry the other person might leave you.

I offer a free, 15-minute, telephone conversation for us to evaluate if we should meet for an initial assessment. I will offer signposting to other individuals/ organisations if your needs may be better met by them.

My initial assessment takes approximately 60 – 75 minutes (stand-alone fee) and I will use a Core-10 assessment form to understand how you are presently feeling. The assessment is designed for you to decide whether you would like to work with me and for me to understand what you are presently finding difficult. I will offer you an understanding about how psychodynamic counselling works and I welcome any queries or concerns you have about beginning counselling or how it might work for you.

If fitting, we will then agree a time and day to work with each other, also agreeing the mode of counselling (in-person/ online/ telephone/ open-ended/ brief), normally on a weekly basis.

If I do not feel my skills or experience are suitable for you needs, I will suggest other individuals/ organisations which may better suit and support you.