Tina | Counsellor/Psychotherapist Reg. MBACP

Family Therapy & Relationship Counselling Honiton

Hello and a very warm welcome, I am a highly experienced therapist & feel very passionate about my work. I welcome you both into a warm, safe, professional environment. With over 20yrs experience I have helped many couples, individuals & families work through a variety of difficulties. 

I truly commit myself to offering you a sincere, caring, confidential & professional space. I aim to understand with true empathy, to listen without judgement and to use my skills to help you both find a way forward with whatever problem or situation is causing you concern. I will not give advice, but will help you make your own choices, enabling you to talk freely, without fear of rejection, criticism or blame.

Throughout my years as a counsellor, I have been very privileged to witness many couples make lasting positive changes to their lives.

I have also been fortunate to have spent 13 years at a highly reputable counselling service in Exeter where 90% of our clients were G.P referrals, I gained a wealth of experience working with couples as well as individuals with a variety of issues such as;

• Struggling to connect with each other
• intimacy difficulties 
• Low self-esteem
• Depression
• Abuse
• Neither of you feeling heard or understood by the other.
• issues arising from childhood

I work with Individuals, Couples and Families & am lucky to be able to offer flexible appointments times including evenings, if for any reason you would struggle to attend in person I also offer the option of online sessions. I also offer intense weekend therapy which can be really helpful for couples & families .

As a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) I adhere to their ethical framework & am accountable for the therapy you receive from me.

Many people are unaware that our profession is not regulated meaning unqualified or struck off counsellors and Agencies such as Palace Gate Counselling Service in Exeter and Taunton Counselling service are still within their rights to practice as therapist. So please when choosing your counsellor do make sure they are on the Accredited Register.

What is Counselling & How Can it Help?

There may be times in our lives when we experience difficult situations, our thoughts and feelings leave us confused and we may feel that things just can't go on as before, a sense that something must change. I strongly believe that in the right counselling relationship we discover the self-understanding which enables us to make satisfying self-directed changes for healing and growth.

Talking - Telling a counsellor about your problems will help you to explore and clarify exactly what the problem is. This may sound simple but very often when we are having difficulties we can get stuck in our own thought patterns. Talking to a professional who does not know any of the people or events involved will help you to focus, and you may find yourself widening your thinking. This in itself can be helpful.

Listening - A counsellor is also a trained listener and will try to understand what you are saying and feeling and will reflect this back to you so that we both come to understand the problem more clearly. You will not be given advice or opinions but will be offered an opportunity to look at your difficulties from several angles and decide for yourself what you would like to try to do about them. You will be helped to recognize and to draw on your own strengths and resources and even perhaps discover new qualities you didn't know you had!

Feelings - Counselling is not just about thinking, it is very much about expressing feelings. How you express your feelings is very personal and we all have individual ways of doing this. Being able to share how you feel about yourself and others with your counsellor and to have your feelings really heard and respected with out being judged can help you to decide what you want for yourself, without feeling guilty or beholden to others.

Looking At The Past - As you begin to understand and acknowledge your feelings you will become more aware of and able to resolve patterns which keep recurring and causing you difficulties. In order to understand your feelings you may need to look at the past and see where these feelings originated and how they developed. In doing so you will learn more about yourself, your strengths, weaknesses and needs and how these influence your feelings about yourself and your relationships with others.

Change - Exploring and having a greater understanding of yourself and situations around you will help you to discover your true self, and through counselling you will be able to explore new ways of being and help you make any changes you choose to make.

Couples Counselling

Couples counselling gives exactly the same opportunities only as a couple.
It gives you both an opportunity to address issues within your relationship that are causing difficulties and to explore the underlying problems that you both face in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

Couples can use the process to explore their roles within the relationship and develop new strategies and approaches to each other. This may also require looking at learnt patterns and how others have influenced how you are in a relationship so you can get a greater understanding of yourself and each other and therefore enabling change and fulfilment.

Family Therapy

Family therapy offers all of the above conditions with the chance for you to come together as a family to a safe environment where you can explore the relationships between you and to address any difficulties you are experiencing. Often in our busy lives we don’t have an opportunity to come together in space which is safe and non- judgemental. To take the time to really listen to each other with out any outside distractions this in its self can help you to gain a grater understanding of each other and a deeper knowledge of the way you all interact and function as a family and with knowledge and understanding we can promote change.

Couples Testimonials

"We both agree that we are in much better place now thanks to your help. We are able to use our new understanding of each other to help listen and support each other.
Thanks for your help, we both appreciate it and feel much more confident about the relationship."

Families Testimonials

"I have never experienced family therapy and so I was quite nervous regarding my expectations for the process. These feelings soon disappeared as I became aware of Tina's professional nature and her skills in facilitating such a delicate process. Her presence provided a safe space where tears could be released and voices heard. I believe that often families can become strangers struggling to know each other. This was certainly the case in my family and whilst it was challenging finding the voice within each one of us, Tina managed to effectively navigate the raw emotions that surfaced. In a nutshell, if you ever find that a breakdown occurs within your family, I cannot recommend Tina highly enough. She really understands when to be both visible and invisible whilst the sharing of potentially painful words are spoken. For me personally, it was a huge release to finally discuss painful emotions that have created wounds in numerous aspects of my life. I finally feel the chains have been released and freedom is upon the horizon. Of course, it is a work in progress, but I have my strength back and it is finally real.... Thank you Tina, you did a great job."