Rita Harvey Counselling and Psychotherapy

Welcome

I am a BACP accredited Counsellor working in central Basingstoke. I work with people, individuals and couples, to help them make sense and address any problems that affect them emotionally and in their relationships.

I work a lot with relationship issues, including communication problems, dating issues, breakups, insecurity and relational boundaries in individual therapy as well as with couples

I offer a professional and confidential service, in a relaxed environment and easy to reach location. In alternative, you can access therapy online. If you need help or support from a trained listening ear, if you want to deal better with anxiety, combat stress and depression, understand yourself better and enhance your self esteem, get in contact with me. I offer a low cost introductory session and we can take things from there.

About Me

I am a BACP accredited counsellor, holding a Diploma in Humanistic Counselling based on Transactional Analysis (TA) and a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, obtained at Peter Symonds' College in Winchester.

I have a post-graduate Diploma in Transactional Analysis Studies, awarded by the Metanoia Institute in London.

I have a Diploma in Supervision, awarded by The Link Centre in Plumpton, and have been supervising trainees and qualified therapists for about 7 years.

I have extensive experience of working with clients individually, small groups and couples and have accumulated a lot of experience in 16 years of practice.

I work for the NHS and for Employee Assosted Programmes (EAPs) as well as in my private practice.

I come from a scientific background and I worked as Pharmacist until 2002. I hold a BSc (Hons) degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology.

I am bilingual and can work either in English or in Italian.

If you need help or support from a trained listening ear, if you want to deal better with anxiety, combat stress and depression, understand yourself better and enhance your self esteem, get in contact with me. I offer a low cost introductory session and we can take things from there.

Counselling

Counselling is a form of "talking therapy', meaning that it is an effective, therapeutic 'conversation' with a trained professional.

The counsellor helps people with their life difficulties by talking and relating to them and using concepts from established theories of human psychology.

Counselling is indicated when the problem or issues are rooted in the present; when what is upsetting you is linked with events that are challenging and yet part of life: some relationship issues, insecurities about work, stress, mild anxiety and low mood, bereavement, etc.

Counselling can also deal with long standing problems, often of high intensity: depression, identity issues, anxiety, abuse, repeated patterns of difficult relationships, and so on. It can become a deeper, longer term investment on your self.

My way of working

My core modality is called "Transactional Analysis" (TA), which includes cognitive-behavioural and psychodynamic aspects. This means that I can work with people at various depths and to help with controlling their symptoms or getting to the causes of them.

Clearly the deeper is the issue, more rooted in childhood experiences, the longer the work can be. However it is possible to make good inroads in shorter terms.

I aim at building a strong and respectful relationship with my clients, where they can feel safe, held and listened. The good quality of the therapeutic relationship has been proved to be one of the main factors of successful therapy. I use a Relational approach, meaning that with all clients and issues I work taking into account their deeper, often unconscious ways of communicating between people.

As appropriate I also use elements of other types of therapy, which in many ways overlap with TA: for example CBT or Brief Solution Focus therapy, and I can also add Mindfulness training and practices. I work with individuals, long or short term. For relationship problems I also offer Couple Counselling.

Couples Counselling

Many people experience relationship problems, whether they are due to changes in the couple or individual needs, life changes or different outlooks in life. These problems can cause a lot of distress and insecurity that may affect the partners' whole lives.

Relationship counselling is useful for all types of relationships: marriages, partnerships, friendships, family members, etherosexual and same-sex couples. Any couple or 2 people in a relationship could benefit from finding a safe environment where with professional facilitation they can approach difficult subjects and make changes.

The way I work with couples is interactive and focussed on finding ways to improve communication, solve problems and face difficulties, in a respectful and engaging way and with the full collaboration of both partners.

Typical couples issues that can be discussed in therapy are: distancing, low empathy, intimacy, conflict, sexual problems, parenting, separation or divorce.

Relationship issues that can be addressed especially in non-sexual couples (eg friends, siblings, parent and child) are usually around communication, conflict and boundaries.

Couple counselling requires an introductory assessment session where both attend, one individual assessment session for each partner and thereafter all sessions are attended by both people together.

I use concepts from Transactional Analysis, CBT and Psychodynamic psychologies to help couple clients and have specialist supervision for these cases.

Couple Counselling for Specific Issues

RELATIONSHIP CLARITY COUNSELLING

For those couple where one partner is unsure whether they want to continue staying together, I offer short term "Relationship Clarity Counselling" to help them both understand this situation and move forward. This type of counselling typically takes up to 5 weekly sessions.

COUPLE COUNSELLING AFTER AN AFFAIR OR CRISIS

Affairs can cause a lot of pain and conflict and people may need help navigate these situations safely and compassionately. In these cases the therapy is first geared to manage the immediate intense emotional impact on the partners, helping them to regulate their emotions and take necessary actions to protect their relationship. Only when some emotional safety has been established we can look at the context and deeper reasons for the affair or crisis that has come about, This understanding is crucial for the latter phase of this counselling, where the partners will move forward with healing, developing healthier relationship patterns and goals, if desired.

PLEASE NOTE - I do not work with couples where there is active and intense drug use, domestic violence or safeguarding issues, as these require specialist support. Should these arise I would refer to appropriate services.

Location

I offer a professional and confidential service, in a relaxed environment and easy to reach location.

I offer telephone and online counselling when face-to-face contact is not possible. They are conducted and charged the same way. I have worked remotely for a while and I am very experienced in delivering counselling this way.

Fees

Current standard hourly rate for counselling is £60.

Couple therapy £ 75 per hour.

Student counsellor / psychotherapist £50.

You can pay by cash, cheque and card. Other methods (online, paypal) on request.

Holidays and cancellations: We will give each other notice for holidays or work trips. While I am away, or should I be ill, there will be no session and no charge for you. Should you miss an agreed or regular session you will be charged a cancellation fee. I am sometimes able to offer an appointment on another day but I cannot guarantee I have the availability.

Get in touch

To arrange an appointment or ask for more information, please call me on 0794 1134218, alternatively, you can use the contact page on this website or email me directly. I offer an introductory meeting of up to 60 minutes, and half price. This allows us to get to know each other, find out what brings you to therapy and see if we can work together, with no obligation for either of us to continue beyond this time.

If you decide to take up counselling with me, I need to ask you more details and discuss some administration issues. This can follow the introductory session.

Ongoing appointments are usually weekly, and last 1 hour. This is your time, during which you can talk about your experiences, explore and find a voice for your inner world. Please be punctual, I work on a schedule and I cannot offer a lot of flexibility. If you are a couple of minutes early I will let you in, but if you are too early I might still be with another person, so just wait for me. If you come late you lose your time!

Confidentiality: What you say during the sessions is strictly confidential. By law, there are only rare occasions that may require disclosure, but this will always be discussed together. I keep and store brief notes of the sessions in accordance to the GDPR rules and I am registered with the ICO.