Katie Phillips
I am a qualified, and fully accredited, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counsellor registered with both UKCP and BACP. I have experience working in schools, sixth form colleges and charitable organisations providing therapeutic support to children and young people aged 4-19.
I am an integrative therapist and work in a child-centred and relational way with clients.
I enjoy working creatively with children and young people and often use the arts and play to help clients find a medium in which they feel most comfortable and able to express themselves. For older clients, this may predominantly be through verbal communication, but might still incorporate metaphor, images or poems they have created, or song lyrics that are meaningful to them to help develop a shared understanding of their emotions and the challenges they are facing.
Knowing and valuing each individual, and, in turn, those children or young people feeling known and valued, has always been a priority for me. Both from my own personal experience, and through my work in schools and charities, I recognise how overwhelming it can be as a young person to talk about your feelings and how opening up can feel scary and very vulnerable. I focus on working alongside my clients to create strong therapeutic relationships and a sense of safety within the counselling work, such that the young people I work with know they will not be judged for their thoughts, feelings or behaviours, but be cared for with empathy and a genuine curiosity for who they are and how it feels to be them.