Claire Law: Professional Counselling in Preston
There’s times in life when having space to speak to a professional counsellor about yourself, your life and your feelings can be liberating. Being deeply heard, seen and accepted for who you are, without judgement can can be profoundly transformative, helping to untangle the roots of pain. This is what lies at the heart of the counselling & psychotherapy I offer.
People describe my therapeutic approach as:
Warm
Welcoming
Inclusive
Encouraging
Involved
Your local Preston Counsellor & Psychotherapist
Person-Centered Therapy
Gestalt Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Existential Psychotherapy
Emotion-Focused Counselling
Transactional Analysis
Mindfulness
Compassion Focused Therapy
Creative and Somatic approaches
I’m an experienced BACP Senior Accredited Integrative Psychotherapist and also use the words therapy and counselling to describe the helping support I offer. I am a neuroaffirming therapist. My counselling approach draws on techniques from different types of therapy to tailor the psychotherapy to fit your individual needs. These include:
I’m very comfortable working with how the past impacts the present, as well as focusing on your here-and-now experience of life. My approach is well suited for working with grief, anxiety, trauma, burnout and relational challenges. I’m very open to us working at depth and moving beyond surface-level symptoms.
In practice, this means I offer a warm, non-judgemental and compassionate space that supports you to explore your feelings and your places of pain. I won’t shy away from the things you find difficult. I’ll respect your autonomy, creativity and strengths, and be curious about you. Whether we’re working online via MS Teams, or meeting for face-to-face counselling in Preston, I’ll be putting your needs and preferences at the heart of our work together.
I’m not the type of counsellor who simply sits and listens - I’ll ask questions, and share thoughts and feelings I experience as we work together. I like to be active and involved in the therapy, rather than a passive observer. I see the therapeutic process as collaborative teamwork.
Counselling with Claire doesn’t involve :
Being told what to do
A set agenda or topics you need to talk
Being forced to open up
Patronising advice
Doing all the work yourself
Having to mask or suppress yourself
Counselling with Claire is a space where:
All emotions are welcomed
Your accessibility needs are welcomed and attended to
I’ll be a real human being in our encounter
No topic is off-limits
You’ll have space to explore the things you want to process and change
We’ll aim to discover and update core beliefs that lie underneath your experiences, and how past pain is shaping your present
I’ll be actively involved in the work to support you
My Counselling Space in Preston
Face-to-Face counselling takes place at my therapy space in Ashton, Preston close to the Guild Wheel (PR4). There’s plenty of parking directly outside. It’s also close to several Preston Bus routes and cycle storage is available.
Upstairs there is a toilet available. And there is a wheelchair accessible entrance and accessible toilet also available.
Face-to-Face Counselling in Preston & Online
Getting Started
Starting counselling can feel daunting, especially if you’ve never accessed therapy before or had difficult previous experiences of counselling. I aim to make the process of making an initial enquiry smooth and straightforward to help with any nerves you might have.
How to decide if you’d like to work together:
1. Make contact with via my website or email; to let me know you're interested in counselling / psychotherapy.
2. We can then arrange a free 20-mins phone or video call consultation. You’ve also got the option to go ahead and schedule a phone / video consultation via my online booking system. In this, we'll chat through what you’re looking for from therapy and any questions you have. There’ll be no pressure to go ahead with booking a session - I’ll respect your autonomy. If you preferred to meet in person for an initial chat, that’s also usually possible - contact me via the web form or email me and let me know.
3. Once we’ve had a free initial chat, If you did want more information, I’ll email you with details of the practicalities involved in working together.
4. You can then decide whether you'd like to book an initial counselling session. In this first session, we'll collaborate so we're both clear on what you want to gain from therapy and take it from there. You're free to decide how many sessions feel right for you.
Drop me a line to book a free 20-minute welcome call, or make use of my simple call scheduler function if you have any questions. There’ll be no pressure, no hard sell.
Just send me a message and I’ll get back to you.