I’m Allan Glaze and I am a Counsellor working in the Talking Therapies Service.
Can you tell us a bit about the service you work in?
Our service works with a range of clients aged 16 years and older who are presenting with anxiety and depression. Counsellors usually work with clients for whom the depression is the main difficulty. Often underlying the depression is a range of reactions to life experiences, adjustments and losses that a client is experiencing.
What does an average day look like for you as a counsellor?
Clients may come to counselling feeling worried stuck and in fear of being judged. While we may reflect and challenge clients in a healthy and thoughtful way, we offer a non-judgmental service.
On average, I see 22 clients a week. This consists of a number of first appointment assessments as well as those already within therapy. Throughout the course of a typical day, as well as seeing clients in clinic or online, I may communicate with other health professionals such as GP’s. I also liaise with colleagues within the service if a transfer of care is indicated due to a client’s presentation having changed.
I attend monthly meetings such as team meetings, line management meetings and clinical supervision. In addition to this I have a peer supervision with a small group of counsellors. Safe guarding group supervision within our team runs several times a year. I meet quarterly with other counsellors in the same locality as well as attend any CPD and mandatory training.
I also attend the neurodiversity special interest group. I am also neurodiverse with ADHD and Dyslexia. My interest in this area motivates me to support both clients and colleagues with gaining a greater understanding of how neurodiversity might impact NHS Talking Therapies services. To this end, I will be attending the training to become an autism trainer for the NHS.
In your experience what impact can counsellors have on delivering high quality health care?
As I attend the neurodiversity special interest group (SIG), many counsellors attend other SIGs that develop and inform our wider practise. Attendance at these groups allows us to inform and share our expertise and knowledge between teams and modalities.
I think the work of counsellors is unique within Talking Therapies as it less structured than other approaches. While I may offer some suggestion to the client in reflection and have some solutions focused approaches, I work from a base of person centre counselling, putting the client at the heart of their therapy and believe that they are the expert within their own world. This thinking allows a unique approach for the client to make real and lasting change.
If I was try and some up my approach in a nut shell, it’s to step into the client world through phenomenology. This allows me to understand what the client’s world looks like through their eyes and to empower and encourage them to work through difficult and life changing experiences.
