Thomas Pounds

Monday - 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Tuesday - 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Wednesday - 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Thursday - Closed

Friday – Closed

Saturday - 10am to 2pm

Sunday - Closed

I’m a fully qualified and Â鶹ԭ´´ Registered counsellor based out of Bournemouth, Dorset, and I’m currently offering online and telephone counselling to clients who 18+ across the UK. I’m a member of the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO), and adhere to the ACTO Professional Conduct and Code of Ethics as well as the Â鶹ԭ´´ Ethical Framework and Good Practice for online and telephone counselling.

I aim to provide a therapeutic relationship that's authentic, understanding and non-judgmental, where we can process and explore your unique thoughts, feelings and experiences together. I’m able to work with a range of problems, issues and difficulties, such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship struggles and more. I’m also an Autism-Informed Counsellor, and Autism and ADHD are key areas of my continuous professional development and training. 

I work within a Humanistic Integrative Approach, which is primarily based on Person Centered Theory, and uses elements of Gestalt Theory and Transactional Analysis. Essentially, this means that I can tailor our counselling to suit your needs.

The Humanistic Approach is about self-discovery and helping you to achieve your full potential as a human being, rather than only concentrating on individual problems. It looks at everything that makes you who you are and focuses on you as a unique individual, and we can work on the issues that you want to explore.

For example, we could work together to make connections, recognise patterns, increase your awareness and understanding of yourself, as well as your relationships to others and the world around you. We can also work on developing coping strategies and greater self-acceptance. Ultimately, I aim to help you to find your own answers and to make decisions, choices and changes that align with your values and beliefs.

As well as having personal experience in neurodivergence, I’m committed to staying updated with current research, training and the best practice for supporting autistic clients. I am an Autism-Informed Counsellor and have a certificate in working therapeutically with autistic clients.

Although I’m aware that every autist is different and unique, this training means that I have a good general understanding of neurodivergence, the ways in which an autist might view, experience and interact with the world differently, and that I can appreciate and support with the unique challenges and difficulties that an autist might face. Such as masking, anxiety, sensory overload, shutdowns and burnout.

Counselling is £50 per 50-minute session and will usually take place on a weekly basis. However, duration and frequency of sessions can be adjusted to suit personal needs if required. I’m happy to explore this with you. I also offer a 10% discount if you pay for a block of 6 sessions in advance.

I understand that it’s important that you find a counsellor who is the right fit for you, so I offer a free, no obligation, online video or telephone consultation. In this, we can explore what's brought you to counselling, go through any questions that you might have, discuss how I might be able to support you and any reasonable adjustments that you might find helpful.

Session one is a bit different from the other sessions that follow. Its useful for me to get a bit more of an overview of your life, what has brought you to counselling and what you would like to focus on. Therefore, in our first session, I may be asking more questions than usual, and about specific things. There’s no pressure, and it’s just a chance for me to get to know you better. Otherwise, our counselling sessions are your time to use as you want, whether that be exploring the same topic each week, or whatever you feel like talking about on the day.