What is integrative counselling?

I specialise in integrative counselling, a combined approach to therapy which asserts that there is no single method that will help everybody in any situation. Every person is different and the issues you are facing must be considered as a whole for any form of counselling to be effective. My integrative techniques are tailored specifically to your individual needs and circumstances to provide you with the best possible platform to deal with the emotional obstacles in your life.

Integrative counselling promotes healing and encourages wholeness – this helps to ensure that you are reaching your full potential in all levels of your life (mental, physical and emotional). You must be prepared to undertake self-exploration and identify factors in your life that are particularly problematic.

In particular, integrated therapy helps you face each moment openly and genuinely without an opinion, expectation or attitude formulated beforehand. This allows you to better focus on the anxieties and pain restricting your psychological freedom, while also identifying triggers that may be causing troubling patterns of behaviour. 

Photo of Samantha Ireland
S. Ireland
Integrative Counsellor, Individual Member (BACP)

Which techniques does integrative counselling involve?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy which involves looking at the connections between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. By linking what you do, think and feel, CBT can help you to make changes in the way you think (your cognition) and the way you act (your behaviour).

CBT says that feelings, thoughts and behaviours are linked.

Making changes in your thoughts will impact your actions and emotions, and changing your actions will help to improve your thoughts to make you feel better day-to-day. CBT says that it is not events that cause our emotions, but how we interpret events. The thoughts and meaning you give an event are the true reason behind the emotions you feel. CBT improves your interpretation of events which leads to more positive thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Whilst it is beneficial to discuss the past and understand how previous events have impacted your life, CBT primarily focuses on improving your mental well-being now. This is why CBT can be so powerful as part of an integrated therapy plan.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centred counselling style which aims to change your behaviours by helping you explore and resolve your mixed or contradictory feelings. Through this type of counselling, a motivation to change is elicited from within you and harnessed to create meaningful changes in your life.

MI can help with issues such as addiction to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, as well as anything that involves making a change in your life. Dealing with your weight, exercising and managing the symptoms of a physical or mental illness are all issues that can be addressed through MI counselling. MI works by helping you discover your own interest in making the necessary changes in your life. By expressing – in your own words – your desire to change, the ambivalence which keeps you stuck in a rut is reduced.

Once your motivation to change is clear, we can start to plan for and begin the actual process of making the desired changes. MI puts a high focus on taking action and boosts your confidence by making you appreciate even small, incremental changes. The end goal of MI is to strengthen your commitment to the changes and solidify them into new, permanent behaviours.

I have years of experience with Motivational Interviewing and I have seen first hand how beneficial it can be for people struggling to make positive changes in their life. When managed as part of an integrated counselling plan, MI is clinically proven to have a highly constructive effect.

Integrative therapy can involve many other techniques and every approach is personalised to suit you, in order to attain the highest efficacy.

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The counselling you need, at a price you can afford.

£40 per hour session (standard price)
20% discount when you make an 8-session block booking

My price is highly competitive and may be negotiable for people with low incomes. Please contact me for an accurate quote, the hourly price listed here is a guideline only.

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