About Me
Hello, my name is Leanne and I would like to welcome you to Formby Counsellor.
I am a qualified Person Centred Counsellor, Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Clinical Supervisor at post-graduate level, based in Formby.
I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a member of the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP).
I offer psychological therapy to both adults, children and young people privately from my Therapy Den.
I also currently work at a charitable Children and Young Person’s mental health service as the Clinical Lead therapist and clinical supervisor. I continue to further develop my academic and professional knowledge, taking relevant courses and keeping myself up to date with Safeguarding training (last updated January 2023).
I am a working Mum of two, I have had a life full of ups and downs and I feel I am both professionally and personally equipped to offer genuine support and empathy to those seeking a comfortable space to come, talk, be heard and just ‘be’.
Counselling is a unique experience in that the time is invested purely in yourself – and yes, in turn this will help others around you – but it is so very important in our modern lives to take time out for reflection and to look after our own mental health and well being.
Throughout my life I have always been passionate about mental health and well being. I am a true believer that our behaviours and feelings are linked with our experiences in life, how these may have influenced the development of our personalities over time; and therefore impacted on our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others.
To strip this back and rediscover who we really are, in my opinion, is the most amazing thing we can do for ourselves. Only once we are truly self aware can we understand ourselves; our behaviours, our reactions to things – and ultimately our lives become more clear. Thus helping to relinquish any anxiety, anger, guilt, indecisiveness or anguish, and move on to a happier place in our lives and within ourselves. Helping others, and witnessing positive changes in the people I have been humbled to work with, has been so rewarding and has spurred me on to educate myself.
I first studied sociology and psychology in the early 1990s and attended Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Sociology. During this time I had a keen interest in how certain environmental and psychological factors could influence a young person’s life choices; and ultimately their future. This later developed further in me wanting to learn how this may effect the rest of a person’s life – how they are labelled by others growing up, and how they perceive themselves thus shaping decisions in all aspects of their lives for instance; from relationships with others, patterns of behaviour to career choices and personal aspirations.
I worked in a High School for over 18 years in a pastoral role. When I started in 2000 I was employed to help young people make good choices, with support, respect and guidance – and to help them see a more positive and successful future for themselves. This has been extremely rewarding and it has naturally lead to me furthering my education to find new and more effective ways of working with troubled young people and adults.
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Formby Counsellor and look forward to meeting you soon in the Therapy Den.