Rate Jo Read

My name is Jo Read, I qualified in 2016 receiving the Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling accredited by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Awarding Body (CPCAB) through Sweet Track Counselling in Glastonbury and completed my counselling placement hours with the Sweet Track Agency. I am a qualified Social Worker as well as a Counsellor. I hold a current Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced certificate (DBS) for work with Young People under the age of 16 years. I have over 20 years experience of working with Young People and Adults in Youth and Community Work, Education, Mental Health and Social Care. I have monthly supervision and my own personal counselling to support my work and personal development. I have relevant insurance and am a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).

I work within the Person Centred counselling approach, drawing on the core conditions of unconditional positive regard, empathy, congruence and confidentiality, enables me to communicate clearly with clients and negotiate and sustain the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. Whilst working within the BACP ethical framework, Values, Principles and Moral Qualities, enables ‘safety’ and professionalism.

The use of open questions and appropriate listening skills, such as reflection, summarising and immediacy enables the ‘client’ to ‘speak their truth’ and so help to identify their issues. For me this is a reciprocal interaction, in which I learn from the client about their process and experience and the client has the opportunity to learn from the experience of sharing and reflection to realise their true inner self, focus on themselves and begin to repair the relationship they have with themselves and in the world with others’.

In my experience, the fundamental benefit of counselling is to offer the opportunity for clients to be in a safe and boundaried space in order to speak their truth and to explore their feelings, thoughts and experiences in order to find their answers. As a counsellor I feel that it is important to enable the client to identify ‘their’ agenda.

The first session will give opportunity for us to make a decision about whether we will work together and if so we will complete what is called a ‘counselling contract’ for this as well as an initial assessment that will help to identify what you would like to achieve from counselling. This is also a time for you to ask any questions, in fact questions are welcome at anytime. Our agreement will also be reviewed along the way.

My aims:

• To provide counselling of value to Young People and Adults in distress

• To alleviate psychological suffering and work with you in an holistic way through the use of talking therapy and other relevant tools as agreed during the sessions.