Basia Dereszewska

My name is Basia Dereszewska. I am a fully qualified and BACP registered humanistic integrative counsellor and psychotherapist.

Counselling and Psychotherapy are often considered to be interchangeable terms. Usually counselling involves short term work and is recommended for specific issues such as a major life change or grief and takes place over a few weeks or a few months. Psychotherapy is more open-ended and explorative. It tends to look at past issues that might be contributing to present day problems.

I offer both short-term and open-ended therapy, drawing on various modalities including person-centred, psychodynamic, attachment theory, mindfulness, humanistic, CBT, transpersonal and TA.

I combine these theories, depending on your individual needs – no person’s therapy will be the same combination as another’s, it is all individual and specific to you.

My aim is to listen and to see you, and to help you gain a greater insight into yourself in order to heal.

My specialism is in a 6-9 session programme of CBT which is particularly helpful for specific issues such as low anxiety, low self esteem, unhelpful thinking patterns or feeling “stuck”.

Therapy & Approach

The relationship between client and therapist is a unique one. It’s of upmost importance to me and my practice that it is this that provides a strong basis for the therapy to occur.

Talking to me rather than a friend or relative can be extremely helpful. This is especially the case if you are dealing with painful, difficult or shameful thoughts, situations and memories. I am trained to listen and allow you to be seen and heard. My aim is to provide a safe and non-judgmental space for you to discuss things that you may not be able to talk about with anyone else.

In turn we can collaborate and work together on whatever challenges or difficulties you are faced with. We do that by re-framing situations or trying to look at them in a different way to understand and unravel where and why the problem lies.

Talking openly and honestly can be a great form of release in itself.

Life is difficult sometimes and we can get ‘stuck’ and that’s OK.

Being able to admit that you’re ‘stuck’ is the first and most difficult step.

How I work

1. Once we have had a free 20 minute consultation over email or phone what your needs from therapy are, we can then decide whether we can proceed to a first full assessment session.
2. The assessment session consists of slightly more direct and detailed questions – this is for me to get more of an idea of what you think you’d like to get from therapy, your expectations, your fears, your past experience of therapy if any, and relevant information collection.

What I can help with

Anger management, Anxiety, Child related issues, Depression, Loss, OCD, Redundancy, Relationships, Low self-esteem, Stress, Strained family dynamics, Trauma, Women’s issues, Work related issues, Unhelpful thinking styles.

I have a particular interest in strained Mother/Daughter dynamics.

Experience

I have had over five years of experience working for Mind charity. My experience includes clients from the ages of 20 to 70+ seeking help with a wide variety of issues.

About Me

Prior to training as a therapist, my career spanned many diverse fields. These include luxury jewellery retail and production, fashion advertising, music promotion and independent design production. I have also completed teacher training in secondary schools. This mix of corporate and independent arenas where the stresses and strains varied vastly, has been an invaluable insight into understanding the diversity of challenges and differences that each presents.

Psychotherapy Qualifications & Training

Qualified member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

• Advanced Diploma in Integrative Humanistic Counselling, CPPD (BACP Accredited)
• Diploma in Integrative Humanistic Counselling, CPPD (BACP Accredited)
• Certificate in Integrative Humanistic Counselling, CPPD (BACP Accredited)

I have additional Professional Training in:

• CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
• Psychiatry, Psychopathology and Psychodynamics
• Neuroscience and Attachment Theory
• Time-Limited Counselling

Fees:  

Free initial 20 minute phonecall

£75 per session thereafter